#it’s really funny that in almost every comic jason makes an appearance in he ends up temporarily mentoring a kid/teen hero/vigilante

[loveronlineee]

The Freak and the Freakette (Eddie Munson x Reader)

Masterlist 

Eddie Munson x Reader (She/Her)

Warnings: Swearing, a little violence?

Synopsis: As Y/N explores her new found love for metal, her friendship with Eddie grows. But after an altercation with Jason, the two are branded with a label that’ll band them together forever

Y/N notes: none

Heyo Willow here! This is a mix of three requests I got from @noa-keselman , @reasontobebeautiful​ and an anon. I took elements from all and put ‘em together so I hope that’s okay guys!

Wanna be on the Eddie Munson tag list? Look here!

Wanna request something? Look here!

Y/N walked into the lunch hall like she did every day and grabbed a tray. Joining the line of other students, she looked around. Everyone was at their usual tables. Jocks, band kids, party people…

Y/N didn’t really fit into a click. She got along with almost everyone on a certain level, but not enough to be labeled as one of them. Although more recently, people who used to be friendly to her were starting to avoid her.

Y/N knew why. Every week she seemed to look more and more like the resident freak, Eddie Munson. She had a couple classes with him and they had gotten to know each other a little. Y/N had never met a metal head before, and she didn’t realise until Eddie that she was quite a fan of the look.

It started small, buying a pair of ripped blue jeans. Adding a chain and some jewellery. Then it was the leather jacket. The amount of black items in her wardrobe continued to increase.

She’ll never forget the look on the cheerleader’s face when she asked Y/N what she was listening to on her Walkman and she replied with Black Sabbath.

Not that Y/N really cared. She was just happy to be finding things she liked.

She got got her lunch and began walking towards the tables. Y/N knew the usual empty spots well. The people with smaller friend groups never mind if she sat at their table with them. Heading towards an empty spot, she suddenly felt a presence on her right. She didn’t even need to look up to know who it was.

“Hello Eddie.”

“Hey Y/N I couldn’t help but notice…” The metal head began, moving his arms around. “…this week’s change in your appearance.”

“Yes?” Y/N said, already knowing where this was going. She sat down at the end of a table, Eddie sitting down opposite her.

He leant on his elbows, his two pointer fingers over his lips. He leaned his arms forward, looking at the top of her head.

“Your hair…” He looked back down at Y/N. “It’s looking strangely familiar.” A grin creeped onto his face. Y/N could help the small smile appearing on her own.

“Is it now?” Y/N replied, seeing how long he would stretch this out for.

Y/N had a lot of time for Eddie. He was funny and weird and always completely himself. Like her, he didn’t seem to care about the social hierarchy at school. And he was elated that Y/N seemed to be becoming a metal head like him.

“Yeah it’s like, looking in a funhouse mirror.” Eddie tilted his head comically. Y/N copied him, making him chuckle.

“Oi freak!” Jason stormed over. “Stick to your own goddamn table.” He spat. Y/N furrowed her eyebrows and watched the boys interact. She avoided these arguments when she could but today, for whatever reason, Jason was pissing her off more than usual.

“Jason. He’s just sitting here.” Y/N calmly replied.

“Y/N can’t you see he’s freaking out the other students!” Y/N looked around. A couple of student were giving side glances but she couldn’t tell if they were to Eddie, or Jason’s outburst.

“He’s not doing anything, why are you making up problems?” Y/N asked, slightly annoyed.

“Yeah.” Eddie added. “So why don’t you go back to your own table with the meatheads?” He said in a low tone, leaning closer to Jason.

“Oh you’re gonna get it now.” Jason took a step back, hyping himself up. Eddie stood up. The surrounding students were catching on and began to watch. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this one FREAK!”

“Well come on then!” Eddie egged on.

“You think you don’t deserve this?” Jason said, a scarily calm anger about him. “You don’t think I see you doing your weird cult shit every day? I mean look at Y/N. You’ve poisoned her mind. Now we’ve got a freak and a freakette!” Y/N continued to eat her lunch, watching inquisitively. She seemed unaffected by Jason’s comment.

“Don’t talk about Y/N.” Eddie’s joking demeanour shifted into a much more serious one.

“What? You gonna do something about it?” Jason poked.

Y/N finished her lunch, calmly standing up as the boys continued to argue. She picked up her tray and turned it 90 degrees, letting the trash fall to the floor. Before either of the boys could make the first swing, Y/N hit Jason across the face at full force with the piece of plastic.

The boy went flying and room went silent.

“Holy. Shit.” Eddie said to himself.

“L/N! MUNSON!” A teacher screamed across the lunch hall. “PRINCIPALS OFFICE. NOW.” They pointed.

Y/N dropped the tray on the floor and began walking, Eddie following behind her. Everyone watched as they left, Jason’s friends helping him back up. All speechless.

The hallway was empty. The pair could hear their shoes tap and squeak on the floor. As they got further away, Y/N began laughing. Eddie was relieved she was in a good mood but still in shock himself.

“Y/N L/N, where the hell did that come from?” He asked, joining in with her laughter.

“That was SO worth it oh my god-“ Y/N jogged in front of Eddie and began walking backwards. “Did you see his face??”

“Uh did you see EVERYONE’S face???” Eddie 1-upped, leaning forward.

“I mean if I didn’t do it, you would have.”

“Uh no I would not. You think I’m that strong? Jesus H Christ L/N.” He shook his head. Y/N laughed again. She walked back to be beside him.

“So… the freak and the freakette of Hawkins High huh? I kinda like it.” Y/N smiled. Eddie chuckled, putting a hand on Y/N’s shoulder and pulling her a little closer.

“The freak and the freakette.” He repeated.

He kinda liked it too.

Tag list: @Mikinyi @justaproudslytherpuff @angelicjinwoo @k12baby @spiderman-berries @ruhro7 @justanotherhappyidiot @dontcallmesavvy @kenzi-woycehoski @gh0stm3g @lagataprrr @spencersbookbag @ygrworld @ambernicole90 @alwaysbeenfamous @angelsarecallin @voteforevilthoughts @iameddiemunsonshair @hellf1reclub @phobles-world @isshecleverorisshecrazy @olrjmarvete @b-bella9 @ultraoliviajeromethings-blog  @beatlebeesstuff @korescomaactually @bilesxbilinskixlahey @darkened-writer @nightless @gnkkstarz @cullenswife @killergoddessmm @preciousbabypeter @uselessbutinteresting @frogtits1 @lotus-es @padfootpottah99 @siriuslysmoking @enoumen-t @marrigold-2002 @nightless @the-mysterious-miss-s @olrjmarvete @evie-119 @rand0m—fangirl @felicityofbakerstreet @lotus-es @v0idl1nq @stv-1-ncent @eiviea @iheartcb @grumpyy-bearr @purple-flamingo @eddiessoulmate @violetrainbow412-blog @mcueveryday @marauders3rawh0re @ravenhood2792 @dragonalpha54 @slytherinintj13 @pastel-abyss-x @missscarlettangel @charli123456789 @henhouse-horrors @erikaar @golden-hoax @fairynamjoonie @caramelkatsukis-bitch @sun-faced @somerandomasgardian @helensophie @avobabe87 @s-u-t @superheavymetalunicorn @low-keyyyyy @carliuxima @avarose06 @ticharluv @ijustfndamilldllrsthatsmnefgt @gia-maybank @takemetoneverland420 @notbeforelong @lovepity @falling4uke @emiijemii @chocolatestudentllamabanana @milkiane @montgomery-fucking-gator @girl-in-the-chairs-void @ourheartsofsteel @simp4fictional @sakurarou @nyctophiliiiiaaa 

[postguiltypleasures]

My Peak TV journey *The Marvelous Mrs Maisel*

Prior to the final I made some predictions about where the show would end up. one was that Esther would grow up to resent her mother like Lorelei resented Emily Gilmore. I was right about that. I also speculated that maybe this was the story of how Midge could make anybody laugh, but could not make it as a comic. I was wrong about Midge’s career.

I liked the flash forwards but some of the choices of people she would be involved with seemed more funny peculiar than funny haha. It implies she was involved with Mike Nichols after that first season episode where she did not know about his act with Elaine May and almost ended up in a Nichols and May knock off act. The flash forwards made a big deal about her working with Bob Hope which tracks with aspirational dialogue from earlier in the series. While Hope had a long and successful career, meaning I understand why he was chosen as the symbol of what success i the field looked like, he also fell incredibly out of fashion starting in the late sixties. As a choice, it says Midge never quite seemed “young” in her career. Which, I guess makes sense.

That said I really liked the final season. In earlier posts about the show I acknowledge criticism that the Weisman’s players by goy actors were so much more likable than the Maisels, played by actually Jewish actors. This season seemed to recognize it and subtly corrects.

The elder Maisels were suddenly hilarious, if still crass and unkind. The Wiseman’s reliance on their housekeeper Zelda, who got married and retired over the season revealed some very unappealing aspects of their characters.

The show sometimes felt like it took place in 1960 for multiple years. As a series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel didn’t exact love the time period in which it took place, so much as it loves the pop culture from its time. It never made me want to be there, just to keep watching people in their colorful, well tailored clothes. But it was not particularly critical, nor interested in a “this is what led to things being the way they are now” type of rational for its existence. As a choice it’s doesn’t clarify, but doesn’t let you wallow for the good old days either. Sometimes it felt like every year on screen was 1960. This disinterested ambivalence occasionally led to wanting to me I’d want to fact check it, but rarely actually doing it. The one time I did was regarding Clark Gable’s death, which I thought stool place a year after the season took place. I was wrong. 

In the final episode there was an establishing shot of the Ansonia indicating that is where Midge live in 2005. Later she makes a comment about Yoko Ono being one of her neighbors. Ono famously lives in the Dakota, several avenues from the Ansonia. I was going list this as another thing that makes me doubt the interest in veracity o the series. Then I found this discussed in this post finale interview with Amy Sherman-Palladino. It’s a fictional building in a fictional timeline. Don’t make a big deal about it. Some how this made define with it.

I want to end this by praising the actors who joined the series late players. 

Some how I forgot that Julie Klausner joined the series late in the fourth season, but she regularly had me giggling over her appearances in the final season.  (Interestingly, Klausner is not a Lenny Bruce fan.)

Alfie Fuller is new to me and she was so great as Dinah. I hope Dinah has as great a management career and I look forward to seeing Fuller in something soon.

Reid Scott is such a charming bully as Gordon Ford, you almost don’t resent his character’s success. (Though I think the no writer on the show rule was a good one) 

I’ve liked Chris Eigeman since those Whit Stillman films and I really liked seeing him run the Village Voice here.

Jason Ralph, (Rachel Brosnahan’s real life husband) had some very funny bits as Mike, especially in relation to Suzie. Seeing him here mostly made me think how I want to see him as a lead again. 

Nina Arianda has intrigued me since I saw her play Stan Laurel’s wife in Stan and Ollie. She still does as Gordon’s wife/Susie’s ex, Hedy. 

[batarangsoundsdumb]

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

[bearpillowmonster]

Static Shock Retrospective

I was watching Young Justice: Season 2 (Invasion) when I decided I wanted to watch this, I always liked Shock but never got into the lore of it, and I love his powers. I've seen gifs of the show and thought it looked interesting but never really got around to it, I just haven't been in the mood. Then I saw a video on YouTube called "Jimmy no!" not knowing that it was from Static Shock and oh boy...it got dark, I wasn't expecting it to go that deep, that kind of thing wouldn't get aired today but it made me interested in it again.

I started the first episode and Virgil's personality made it for me, mix that with Richie, played by Jason Marsden (aka Max Goof and Kovu) and you have a very nice protag duo. I instantly knew that I was going to finish it when I saw him using a blanket like Dr. Strange's cape or a homing device because of his static cling. Yes I started it because it's dark, but the series isn't always dark, just parts of it, like the first episode has to do with gangs, another with racism, then one where a kid gets trapped in a vault and is losing oxygen?? I mean is my memory hazy and cartoons were just like this and aren't now?

They call the people who were in the accident from his origin "Bang Babies" which sounds like a play on Baby Boomers, Virgil is pretty quippy like that. With this, I'm not a big fan of all the baddies coming from the same incident as our hero, especially when we don't see them all there in that episode, you might as well say that the whole town was infected.

Does it withstand the test of time? Well yeah, as I mentioned, there are things we probably wouldn't see in today's television but the topics are quite relevant as well as the humor. The visual style is pretty nice, the language they use isn't as "cringy early 2000's crap" as I thought, the only sign of age is formats, they'll talk about VCRs and have CDs hanging from the ceiling. The actual content is ahead of it's time with almost public service announcement type episodes that are extremely relevant today, for example, one episode they go to Africa and they show that "Black people can be superheroes too." and Virgil says about how in America he's a black kid, but in Africa he's just a regular kid and asks Ritchie if that's what it's like for him all the time. They talk about culture, sometimes it'll teach a lesson that way and it's so wholehearted that it just fits, it's really nice and surprising to see. 

They have sections at the end of the show where they'll have an artist draw a specific character, it's different every time, I have a knack for that and for some reason I remember it?? Maybe I accidentally caught it one day or I'm confusing it for something else because I'm pretty sure I never saw the actual show but it's only after some episodes from what I can see. I think I remember Avatar doing something similar, I guess great shows think alike. 

Here’s a link if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PPMgBU_GmU

Virgil's mother is gone, they make that apparent pretty much from the get-go so no spoilage here but I like the way they make his sister pick up where she left off. Like there's a running occurrence where she'll make a meal for the family and Virgil will make fun of it and say something like "Runny...just the way I like them..." about his eggs, it's like she's doing this stuff to fill the gap and failing but she's making the effort and that's all that counts, for as much or little as we see her, this is a nice little additive to her overall character. As for his mother though, I like that they go all in and make that a running theme, sometimes having full episodes commemorating her.

There are some special guests too. I won't say any more on that though, I'll let it be a surprise if you decide to watch it because the crossover episodes are hands down some of the best I've seen and another reason I started this series.

I got about halfway through the series and I was like "Oh yeah, what about Frida?" She appears in the very first episode and she seems like a main character, then Daisy enters the scene a little later but Frida's kind of been pushed back to the background, used only when the plot finds her convenient, so we don't really get a whole lot of character from her. I guess that's representative to the series as a whole because what I got was a lot different than what I expected from those first few episodes.

In season 3, they change up the intro, it kind of fits the times, the original one sounded kind of 90's, the second one sounds very early 2000s, I suppose it fits the flow. We still get the original theme during Static's bigger moments, but they do that for all the seasons. What's funny to me is that if you read the Wikipedia page, it says they wanted something fast paced with "DMX-type vocals", ha! As if. I will say that some of the OST overall has a few really good tracks, but unfortunately I haven't found a way to find them on their own, separated from the show. I know most of them only last a short time but other DC shows still have the OST released despite being fairly short or only being in a specific episode. That's not the only thing that changes, he has a second design, which I personally have become accustomed to the white shirt over black but it is what it is, his costume was literally just street clothes in Young Justice and I was surprisingly okay with that so whatever suit is fine. The second one is meant to show that he's growing and it definitely seems that way with the sleeker design and more black added but what I really like about it is that he takes the jacket off sometimes and the Static shirt is just a sleeveless black shirt, it just adds more variety in my opinion. Daisy's overall design changed too for whatever reason and Frida's changed a tiny bit, her's is a little harder to notice.  

For some reason in the middle of the season, in the episode "Consequences" and "Trouble Squared", he changes back to his old suit (I mean he could have just had the old suit lying around and decided to use it for old times sake) but it seems like that episode was made before S3 started or something else because Daisy has her old design as well. It also shows that he has a FULL white mask, not just the eye mask, like a part that goes over his head, I'm not sure if that's supposed to be where his hood is or what but he takes it out of his backpack separated from his hoodie. It might've been just a miscolor though. He has electric as his power (obviously) but they use it in pretty creative ways, the most outlandish and kind of dumb one though is that they basically have him use Photoshop. 

You can also argue that he makes the computer a touch screen.

Now Season 4's first episode is really pretty cool, reminds me of something out of Ben 10 but without spoiling it, there's a part in an earlier season where Static asks where a certain character is and they respond by alluding to a DC reference, however we see that character again in the season 4 opener so the timeline doesn't fit, there are a few other inconsistencies but that's the one I'll mention.

Season 4 also seems to have a return for a lot of different characters almost like a sequel to those episodes. Those are hit or miss, some do well while others don't. It's easily my least favorite of the seasons. It's not bad or anything, it has some really good episodes but the good to bad episode ratio is just more than the other seasons, I must have been spoiled by the consistent number of good episodes.

This may be the realest animated tv series I've ever seen and it's about SUPERHEROES! The way they manage that is unbelievable. I hope we see more of this character, somewhere, anywhere because he’s been given the backseat in pretty much everything, even the comics, he’s been absent from those for quite a while, I feel like now is an excellent time to bring him back, I mean look at the current position we’re in.

The last retrospective I did was American Dragon, there are a few things that I can compare between the two endings but does this one seem definitive? Well in a way, yes, it seems like a very good last episode but doesn’t end everything off in such a way that there wouldn’t be room for one more season. I have a feeling they knew it was the last episode given the way they sort of built it up here and there. The cancellation, however, was caused by the lack of toy sales, not lack of views, however I can’t say I’ve really seen any merchandise from the show.

Seems like there were some dinky Subway toys and a GBA game...

[hobbitsnapes]

The Red Hoods Protègè chapter 3

Older Damian Wayne x ofc

Summary:Red hood has taken a young vigilante under his wing and subsequently changes Damians life forever. (I suck at summary’s)

(Photo made by my lovey friend @bakketsux)

A/N: This chapter took me way longer than I thought it would since I tried a new writing style, I really hope it comes across better than the last chapters and I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

As I start to wake up I feel the heaviness of my quilt blanket over me, the warmth a pleasant contrast to the chill air in my room from the window I was to tired to close last night. I feel the bruises on my wrist from last night as I reach up to rub the sleep from my eyes. I look over to my bedside table and see the time, it reads 7:24 a.m. I’m shocked by the fact that I’m not as tired as I thought considering we got back at 3 in the morning and that I got up a few times in the night. I get up and walk to my drawers where all my clothes lay, I change out of the large night shirt I slept in that I’m almost positive is Roy’s, and slip on a black tank top with some jeans and a sweatshirt that I got last week. I look out my window when I hear movement finding it was nothing but a bird looking in, I walk over to the window and shut it so the bird can’t get in even though there’s a screen and shut the blinds once again. I wince when I bend down to grab my suit off the floor, as last night I was way to tired to even bother putting it away properly. Last night was a bit of a rougher night, it was supposed to be just a grab intel and head out, but there was some watch men that we hadn’t accounted for and one hit me in the ribs. I swear Jason was gonna have a heart attack and die again when we got back and he saw how bad the bruise forming. I go out of the room and see Jason in the kitchen with presumably eggs on the pan. “Hey ange, sleep well last night?” “Sure if you count waking up 3 times to go pee then sure I did jay jay” I say with a chuckle “you’d think you’d stop drinking an entire bottle of water right before bed then Huh” he says with a raised eyebrow and a smirk as he sets a plate of eggs and toast in front of me. “So how is it being out on patrol?” “It’s alright, unless you count the football size bruises then those are just peachy!” I saw with sarcasm “I think you enjoy it more than you let on ange” “and you assume that why?” “You seem to enjoy yourself when the little batdemon is around” “I do not! He’s got a large stick up his ass and acts like someone pissed in his cereal every morning.” “Then why the snarky comments and the jokes towards him?” “I never said it wasn’t funny to watch him have a meltdown when I do. Only time he’s entertaining.” “Alrighty then, keep telling yourself that little one” he says with a wink, I finish the last piece of my toast and get up to the sink. “Hey do you mind if I go for a jog to the park?” “How old are you?” “I’m 18?” “You’re an adult, you don’t have to ask me to go for a run, you’re capable to defend yourself, can you just do me a favor and pick up more milk on the way back, Roy keeps bitching that we run out so often” “aye aye Capitan!” I say as I head out the door, before I shut it I hear Jason’s laugh Ecco across the apartment. I start my walk to the park that’s 3 blocks away and plug in my headphones to play some music.

Time skip

I get to the park and see plenty of people raging from small children running around to elderly couples on a bench. I get to a large tree and start my jog around the spacious park, when I’ve finished my second lap around I see a large dog running beside me, it looks to be a Great Dane. I stop my run and crouch down to pet the large dog and he starts panting happily as I rub behind his ears “hi pretty baby and who might you be?” I coo at it as he site down with his tongue hanging from his mouth “awwee aren’t you the cutest thing in the world! You’re just a big ole baby who loves the scritches, oohhh the wonderful scritches!” “Titus!” I hear a voice yell behind me. I turn towards it and see a guy that’s presumably around my age with a large frame, jet black hair with a tan complexion. “Oh is this your dog?” I ask “yes, I don’t understand why he’d run off like that especially to a complete stranger.” There’s a time of Arrogance to his voice. “He’s a beautiful dog” he looks at me with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, “thank you, we have to get going I have a meeting to attend in 30 minutes.” We both stand up and I put my hand out. “Okay then. Have a good day sir” he takes a hold of my hand with a firm but not crushing grip “My name is Damian, Damian Wayne.” “Nice to meet you, Most people call me ange.” Him and Titus start to walk away but but he turns to take one last look at me. As he walks away I can’t help but feel like I know him from somewhere, I don’t dwell on it as I run one more lap around the park before I decide to head to the store to pick up some groceries.

As I’m walking up the stairs to our apartment i hear Jason and Roy talking through the door. “I’m heading out to go check out that new bar downtown after I go see a friend, Apparently the owner is a new mob leader and they’re smuggling stuff in the back.” “You’d think that for the job we have you guys would keep your voices down a bit” I saw when I walk in. “Well we’ve got old lady Ethel who’s hearing aid broke in the 90s, and the Christian couple down the hall who blasts Christmas music in July.” “Who knows Ethel could be a spy.” I say with a wink. “Always so worried little one” as Roy is leaving he ruffles my hair with a chuckle and I attempt to smooth it back down. “And how was your run?” “Pretty good, I picked up the milk and got more bread too.” “Thank god cause Roy was pissy when he got up cause god forbid he couldn’t make cereal.” “I swear he complains more than an old lady sometimes” I laugh. “So what did you do besides running?” “Oh we getting to the Interrogating side of parenting?” “No I’m just curious is all.” “Well I met this guy with his dog, he seemed nice.” “Ohh and who’s the guys name?” “I don’t need to tell you everything you know, I’m a fully grown adult now. Besides I’ll probably never see him again.” I say jokingly as I plop a marshmallow in my mouth. “Alright then, I totally won’t do a background check and find out who he is though.” He says with a wink. “Good luck there jay.” I walk into my room and grab my suit to go wash it for tonight.

Time skip to that night

As we walk down the hallway the lights grow dimmer until the only source of light in the room is from the moon coming in from the brown windows. The air wreaked of old water pipes decaying along with a heavy smell of just an old building. We hear little to nothing in the rotting building that is housing one of the largest shipment of crack and heroin in the city. As I look around I see old pipes that are falling apart and Machinery that looks to have been broken for decades, dust collected around majority of them. We near a room that has 2 large garage like doors, when we near we hear what sounds to be grunting from the room, Jason and I raising our guns as we approach the room. When we get it we see men on the ground and obviously unconscious, as they appear to be breathing still. “We got it from here.” We hear from the corner as Batman approaches us. “Looks like there’s no killing for either one of you tonight.” I look over and see robin beside Batman with a proud shit eating smirk. “Keep talking like that and I’ll have 1.” “Oh really you think you could kill me?” “I mean I am the one with the gun. And you’ve got a Sword that looks like it came from party city.” “Why you little-“ “ROBIN!” Batman grabs him before he could get to me. “Awe does batsy neee to hold you down when you throw a temper tantrum little one?” Robin frees from Batman and grabs ahold of me and slams me into the wall behind me “I will fucking end you if you don’t shut up!” He says as he grabs a hold of my neck. “Ooo second time you’ve tried chocking me, I knew you liked it kinky” his face flashes from anger to disgust and his grip loosens, I take my gun and slam it on the side of his head and kick him back and slam him to the wall and put my gun to his face “try that again and I’ll fill you with so much led that your own family won’t Recognize who you are.” I walk away from him. As Jason and I leave and get on his bike he takes a look at me “what was that all about?” “He’s fucking insufferable.” “You’ve got no idea.”

@comic-nerd-dc @psychovigilantewrites

[mobius-prime]

192. Sonic the Hedgehog #124

Sonic Adventure 2.5: Λlphλ

Writer: Karl Bollers Pencils: J. Axer and Steven Butler Colors: Jason Jensen

All right everyone, we've finally made it to the "Endgame" of the fourth era! While it's not quite as epic and game-changing, this story, spanning this issue and the next, alters the setting and the plot quite a bit, and also sees the return of Shadow the Hedgehog, whom we only got to see a quick cameo of back in Sonic Adventure 2. Also, amusingly, the word "Alpha" in the title is actually spelled with the Greek letter Lambda, not the actual letter Alpha. I know it's for the Aesthetic™ and all, but it's still funny. But anyway, let's jump in and see what this era's finale has in store for us!

So first, we learn the story of how Shadow survived his fall from orbit. Turns out, he didn't actually fall at all! Before he entered the atmosphere, he was caught in a beam from an alien spaceship, and brought aboard.

Well now, isn't this interesting! These are the same aliens that transformed Eggman and Snively back to their organic forms a few issues ago. It seems they're quite interested in meddling in the affairs of the planet, for whatever reason, and now they're using Shadow as a method of escaping from a second spaceship full of different aliens who appear to be quite aggressive. Shadow tries to fight back against them, but the ship hits him with an energy beam, and he begins to lose consciousness once again, falling back towards the atmosphere just as before. Meanwhile back in Knothole, Sonic wakes up, seemingly excited about something big today. He races to Knothole Castle where he kisses Sally hello, the two now openly dating now that they've admitted their true feelings for each other. She asks him if he's ready to "pop the question," to which he says he… is… wait, what question is this, Sally?! You can't mean…

At the same time, in Station Square, the president finds himself contacted by Eggman, who tries to make him a deal to become allies in exchange for advanced technology and protection. Of course, he's trying to propose an alliance to the same people who literally nuked his city because they didn't like him, so this goes about as well as you expect. Naturally, Eggman doesn't like this response one bit.

Rouge swoops in to save the president and his driver as the car careens into a river, but just as they think they've escaped danger, the entire false sky above the city shatters under the attack from a mysterious foe… But before we find out who has done this, it's time to find out what question Sonic is supposed to be asking.

…okay, honestly, this is just bizarre to me. I get that absolute monarchies tend to want to marry their heirs off young to secure alliances, but really? These two haven't even properly dated yet, beyond a little these past months (as at least a couple months are implied to have passed since Sally's kidnapping), and now at the age of sixteen they're planning a future wedding? This entire bit seems so weirdly out of character for both Sally and Sonic, if you ask me. The comic has flirted with the idea of marriage between the two in the past, but that was mostly during the earlier issues when each story was only focused on being silly and telling a funny, self-contained story. Obviously, these two have had a deep crush on each other for years now, and have a lot of chemistry in their own way, but a de facto engagement between the two of them is just strange. Sally is much more pragmatic than that, having broken off a potential relationship once before in favor of focusing on her official duties, and as for Sonic, we've been directly shown before that he's flighty, afraid of commitment, and generally prefers casual friendships to heavily romantic relationships. Now, this might make more sense if you instead view it as an announcement of convenience, a plot concocted by the both of them to get Sally's parents off her back about being married off to a "suitable partner" as the future ruler of the kingdom. If it were portrayed this way, then maybe I could give this a pass. But we're given no such inkling that it's anything other than exactly what it appears to be. And that, to me, makes this plot point a completely bizarre departure from the usual attitudes of both these characters to romance and relationships. Even weirder, as we'll see, this doesn't even affect the plot of the comic at all in future issues - while there's a reference to it here and there, it's nothing plot-important and could have easily been written out without much trouble.

Anyway, Sonic runs out to investigate the boom only to find Shadow lying in a crater outside the castle. Man, lucky for him that he just so happened to land here instead of literally anywhere else, huh? Sonic approaches him and Shadow lashes out in confusion, knocking Sonic aside, before coming to and apologizing. All this does is rile Sonic up and he tries to attack Shadow in retaliation. Really, Sonic? You thought Shadow was freaking dead, and the moment you see him again you try to punch his lights out? Sally, luckily, steps in to reprimand him for his behavior, and Nicole contacts her, telling her there's an emergency message for them back at the castle. The Freedom Fighters, along with Shadow, follow her back in, where both Eggman and Rouge contact the royal family simultaneously, each claiming their cities have been attacked by an overwhelmingly strong foe. Shadow confirms that this is likely an attack from the same vessel he had just been fighting, but then… something happens. A telepathic message spreads out across the globe, echoing in the minds of every single sentient being on the planet, demanding the attention of the "inhabitants of planet Earth…"

Well, this is bad. And now, they're back to finish what they started… Eggman panics and tries to immediately get King Max to agree to an alliance of convenience, but Max cuts him off without another word, justifying his actions to his shocked onlookers as making sure Eggman is good and ready to accept a truce on his terms by making him sweat a bit first. Sonic expresses confusion that the aliens seem to be confusing Mobius with another planet called Earth, but they get a call from Angel Island at that moment where Locke offers his assistance. Of course the Freedom Fighters ask about Knuckles, and he sorrowfully informs them that he's dead. They're shocked and saddened, but don't have time to mourn, as they have to prove the Xorda wrong about their planet. Sally begins some research into the history of the planet, but Hope unexpectedly steps forward, offering her own insight into how the Xorda ended up here in the first place.

Oh boy, Shadow, I sense we're going to have some emotional turmoil over Hope in our future. Also, I just wanna note that this issue claims that the Xorda were last here three thousand years ago, but future issues retcon this into twelve thousand years. Anyway, Sally soon discovers something shocking in her research… Mobius and Earth are, in fact, the same planet!

This. Is. It! This is the big reveal that I've been so carefully dancing around for almost two hundred issues! I have been meticulously wording every reference to Mobius being an "Earth-like planet" to be spoiler-free but also totally accurate in the light of this reveal. Yes, ladies, gents and enbies, the Archie Sonic preboot takes place twelve thousand years into our own future. The first Xorda invasion was, in fact, the first recorded Day of Fury, which is why it's recorded as having wiped out nearly all life on the planet. And this is also the origin of the split between five fingered humans, and four fingered Overlanders. The humans survived underground, unaffected by the gene bombs dropped by the Xorda, while the Overlanders are the result of, essentially, re-evolved humans that were affected by the gene bombs. And as for Mobians? Well, we are talking about a weapon called a gene bomb, so Mobians obviously came about through severe mutations caused by said bombs, eventually becoming the dominant species of the planet! This is why the planet's continents look very similar to those of Earth, with the differences easily explained by not only twelve thousand years of continental drift, but the massive geographical alterations that such a dramatic cataclysm would have caused on the planet. All those old references to previous Earth civilizations exist because those things actually happened, even if the people making said references no longer know what the Confederate States were, or who the Aborigines were. I know this reveal wasn't particularly liked by a lot of readers, and certainly without the context of the previous two hundred issues it sounds downright absurd (hell, even with the context it kind of does), but in the end my personal opinion is that this was a bit of a masterstroke on Karl's part. It's a great way to tie a lot of old plot threads together and develop a more cohesive and solid history for Mobius as a planet, and ultimately provides us with a more clear timeline of events for the various races and civilizations of the world. And it's all thanks to a species of creepy vengeful Mother Brain octopus alien things deciding to commit genocide!

Afterlife (Part Four)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: J. Jensen

So, Kenders. With the big milestone issue fast approaching, is there anything you wanna add in this next installment of Afterlife? Like, perhaps, finally addressing what exactly is supposed to, y'know, happen in the afterlife? Knuckles certainly wants to know, having spent the last two issues doing nothing but reliving his entire previous life verbatim. Aurora explains that though he feels it's unfair that he died, it was unavoidable, as he simply came into his power too quickly and couldn't temper it or learn to control it quickly enough to pull off his saving-Dimitri stunt without essentially going supernova.

This part actually does interest me, because Knuckles' reaction implies that until now, the fact of his death hasn't fully sunken in. He seems to be under the impression that he can come back from it and just resume his life where he left off, instead of traveling onward into the next phase of life. Aurora apologizes and explains that everyone only gets one chance at life, and beckons him toward the mystical portal to the Chaos Force. Knuckles requests only one more thing, to become his normal red self once more, and when Aurora gently corrects him that he doesn't need her help for that, he finds himself instantly back to his old color scheme with a mere thought, which raises the minor question of whether he would have been able to revert back to red all along, or whether it's due to the malleable nature of existence in the afterlife that he's able to do so now. Regardless, the reign of Green Knuckles over the comic's B-stories has finally ended, and Rad Red steps into the portal, ready to claim his destiny. And thus, we get ready to say goodbye to our favorite echidna once and for all, as he takes his place amongst the… wait, hang on a second…

Good old Athair! I missed you, buddy. Aurora tries to argue that Knuckles should still advance forward into the Chaos Force, but Athair merely frowns and crosses his arms, leaving the ending of this story ambiguous… and ripe for a true conclusion next issue, as we hit another major milestone in the history of the comic!

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Worst of 2019

I had to follow-up my “Best of 2019″ list with its opposite universe counterpart but before I give the movies that made me suffer another lashing, let’s make a couple of things clear. I’m not a paid professional and even if I was, all I would be is a film critic. Making movies is hard. Nobody in the industry aims to do a bad job - there are much easier ways to make a living. Even though I might’ve hated these films with a passion that still smolders now, I’ve got mad respect for anyone who decides to put themselves out there and put together a movie. At the end of the day, your work is going to live on. You made something millions will see. Me? I’ll ultimately fade away. Take this into consideration as we single out the movies that tried and failed, sometimes spectacularly.

10. Cats

Cats is the kind of movie that doesn’t come around often. It’s actually kind of fascinating to watch, or it would be if it weren’t so boring. Rebel Wilson (who was destined to have a movie on this list when she starred in The Hustle) plays a cat who unzips her skin to reveal an outfit… above her skin again? She leads a choreographed troupe of singing mice and cockroaches that fill you with terror and confusion. It’s as if they’ve been scaled so the actors could scoop them up and swallow them whole - as cats would do - but because human proportions are so different from cat’s the objects and other animals they interact with change size from scene to scene. Meanwhile, Idris Elba is prowling around with his coat all open, his non-existent junk exposed to all who want to see. Our main character is so bland and unmemorable she makes no impact on you whatsoever. There’s magic in a plot that’s composed almost entirely of introductions - which might make it accurate to the broadway show but not entertaining as a movie -, dodgy special effects in every frame, lame jokes coming from the left and the right… and yet, I don’t hate this film like I do the others on this list. In fact, a part of me even admires Cats.

The thing is, had this movie worked, it would’ve been hailed as genius. It didn’t so it’s being ridiculed but I have to give it points for its ambition and willingness to take chances. That means a lot in a year in which every single one of the top ten grossing films were sequels, remakes or expansions of already-existing properties.The gamble didn’t pay off, but Cats had the guts to walk up to the plate.

9. Dumbo

I was tempted to lump The Lion King and Aladdin along with this tale of a baby elephant that learns to fly while a family of circus performers learn that the big circus tycoon played by Michael Keaton is a meanie. Few of the Disney “live-action” remakes do anything to validate their existence. They’re just feeding you what you can already watch at home for free because you probably already own the originals on home video or you have Disney+. I’m going to single out Dumbo as the worst because it actually tried something different and failed spectacularly. This means we can expect all future Disney remakes to take as few chances as possible.

8. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

There are other movies I could’ve put in this spot (see the Runner-Ups section below for examples) but I had to consider the experience as well as the movie itself. Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is an unfunny comedy that walks into the room as if it’s going to marry your mother and be your new father. It makes fun of the very thing it’s doing. This might make it appealing to members of the “View Askewniverse” cult but not to me. Whether you’ve been brainwashed by Kevin Smith or not, it’s impossible to sit through the painful bonus material which follows the film, particularly the interviews conducted by Jason Mewes. The actor displays no charisma whatsoever while asking questions you don’t care about to people who obviously don’t want to be on camera. I get what Smith was doing; he was trying to give his fans more than just the movie but anyone in their right mind should’ve seen the bonus footage and burned it.

4. Dark Phoenix

What a disappointing way to end the X-Men franchise. Dull until the very end and then interesting for just enough time to make you realize you didn’t just dream it all, the movie was a bad idea from the start. We haven’t known the young version of the X-Men long enough for this story to mean anything and the choices made to make this story more faithful to the comics makes you wonder if you stepped into the wrong movie. Even before seeing Dark Phoenix, I thought people were being too harsh on The Last Stand. They did a lot of things wrong in 2006 but they had the good sense to leave out the aliens. It’s not great but it’s been somewhat redeemed since because its plot advanced the series and meant something in the end. Even if Disney had considered keeping this franchise alive while it was acquiring Fox, this is such a mess they now have no choice but to reboot the whole thing.

4. Jexi

Jexi feels like it just escaped from a time capsule. Even when it would’ve been new, it wouldn’t have been funny. This had no business appearing in theatres and watching the trailer again reminded me of why I hated it as much as I did. If you suspect you have mutant powers that just need to be unlocked by a traumatic or life-altering event, barricade your doors and start playing this movie. You’ll want to escape so desperately, you might suddenly develop the ability to bend space and time.

6. Rambo: Last Blood

This 5th entry in the Rambo series didn’t even have the guts to commit to being a proper conclusion. The titular character appears to succumb to his wounds as the picture closes… only to get up and go find medical attention during the end credits. Senselessly gory and violent, its depiction of Mexico leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

5. Shaft

No one was asking for this movie, not even fans of the original Richard Roundtree films or the 2000 Sam Jackson reboot. It tired story attempts to introduce a new version of the classic blaxploitation character to a new audience. In the process, it makes you hate the two “heroes” we follow through a generic plot filled with offensive humor. The only good thing about Shaft is that it prompted me to check out the originals.

3. My People, My Country

The Farewell made me think a lot about how we should view other cultures, particularly China. In it, Awkwafina’s Billi is caught in a moral dilemma when she learns her beloved grandmother is dying and that her family is keeping the secret from sweet Nai Nai. You go in thinking the American-raised woman is going to do the right thing by tearing the charade apart but it’s not long before you realize this scenario isn't that simple. When it comes to My People, My Country, I am going to judge. What’s the moral of this movie again? Give up your life, your dreams, your family for the sake of a country that sees you as nothing more than an expandable pion? If that weren’t bad enough, the movie’s so dull it’ll be an epic struggle to stay awake. Whose idea was it to have an entire segment of this anthology dedicated to the engineers who ensured the mechanism that would raise China’s flag in 1949? It’s as exciting as it sounds.

2. ¡Ay, mi madre!

The worst part of this list is that I know how few people reading will be able to relate. ¡Ay, mi madre! wasn't released theatrically in North America, but movies release “Straight to Netflix” have become such a big deal I’ll make an exception to my usual rule of disqualifying direct-to movies from this list. In terms of filmmaking, this is the worst movie I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s more technically inept than anything else on this list by far. The comedy is so unfunny it’ll make you question your life, the actors are not convincing even before they open their mouths to speak and the ending might as well be a big middle finger towards the people watching. It ha no ending, almost as if they cobbled together the few salvageable strands of footage someone scooped out of the trash into something vaguely related to “coherent”. Remember the name so you know never to click “play” if you happen upon it like I did.

The Runner-Ups

Simmba

I was deeply offended by this Bollywood film but technically, it’s a 2018 movie so I decided to only include it here. It’s loathsome but admittedly, my hatred for it has somewhat subsided since I saw it. Don’t ask me why. This movie sucks.

Playmobil The Movie

This is what we thought we were going to get when they announced “The Lego Movie”. Terrible songs, a lazy plot that makes terrible use of the property it’s advertising, unfunny jokes, and a lack of imagination guarantee this film is destined to make everyone involved regret the day it was released.

Hellboy

Yet another failed superhero movie that enthusiastically sets itself up for a sequel when it’s so obvious to everyone watching that there isn’t going to be one. The one thing it’s got going for it is a pretty cool scene towards the end where demons escape into our world and begin tearing civilians to pieces. To get to that, you must sit through endless scenes that bash you over the head with a mallet marked “Rated R”. Gallons of blood and intestines spilling onto the floor, doesn’t mean the movie is meant for adults. This was written by a teenager disguised as a grown-up.

Gemini man

They waited all these years for the de-aging technology to get where it is now… for this story? Someone should’ve pointed out to director Ang Lee when he was getting ready to film that training doesn’t alter your DNA. Why waste millions cloning Will Smith when you could just raise a normal kid and train them to be an assassin? Ultimately, the movie isn’t really all that bad. It’s watchable but it’s such a big disappointment it needs to be taught a lesson.

Replicas

I’m giving this one a break because no one saw it. I also think it’ll play better at home, where you’ll be free to make fun of it or verbally abuse the loopy plot aloud while your friends listen. If there’s a movie this year that was “So bad it’s good”, it’s this one.

After

At least “Twilight” had its original take on vampires and some danger mixed into its romantic triangle to keep things theoretically interesting. This film started off as - I kid you not - a “One Direction” fan-fic. The drama it serves up will have you howling like a werewolf flying through laughing gas. On the upside, a sequel is coming. In fact, the teaser is scheduled for today!

1. Unplanned

This was the most uncomfortable movie experience of 2019. Most of the Christian propaganda films don’t seem to put much effort into their production - they’re preaching to the choir so why should they? - but 2019 had Breakthrough, which was quite good. It showed these movies don’t have to appeal solely to the churches who will buy tickets en-masse. This movie is ridiculous, gory like a horror film, misleading, and phony. It did have what is undoubtedly the most outrageous and unintentionally funny dialogue of the year, however. “Fast food outlets look to break even on the hamburgers they sell. That’s all they do is break even ... Do you know where they make all their money? The french fries and soda. Low cost, high margin items. Abortion is our fries-and-soda.” Are we sure this was based on a true story? If so, I don’t know why the director decided to edit out the scenes in which Cheryl (Robia Scott) takes the buckets of aborted fetuses home to cook them. I think it would’ve really driven home how evil her character is. I felt dirty sitting in the theater next to people who ate this up.

[nicomoviewatchinpsychopath]

Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Review

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG: VIDEO GAME BASED MOVIE IS FORMULAIC BUT OFFERS PLENTY OF FAST-PACED FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AS WELL AS LONGTIME FANS! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

The world’s fastest hedgehog hits the big screen in Sonic the Hedgehog

PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND SEGA

The blue blur (or Blue Devil as the movie calls him) makes his big screen debut in Sonic the Hedgehog, based on the beloved Sega video game franchise of the same name. Believe it or not out of all the video game franchises, my favorite is and always will be Sonic the Hedgehog and have been a proud supporter of the hedgehog since childhood.             

Granted, it wasn’t until after Sega became a third-party developer for consoles like PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo when I became a fan of the blue hedgehog, but ever since I got my hands on the Nintendo GameCube port of Sonic Adventure 2 as a kid, my Sonic fandom was pretty much instant. I’ve played many of the video games both old and new, watched all the cartoons, read the comic books published by Archie Comics at the time, and I owned several action figures, plushies, and other Sonic merchandise throughout my childhood…in fact I still have most of those even to this day.             

I’ve been clamoring for a Sonic the Hedgehog theatrical movie for years despite video game film adaptations usually being critical and/or box-office poison. But given the popularity of Sonic especially during the 90s when he was rivaling Nintendo’s Mario franchise who already had a theatrical film released in 1993, I’d assume one would have been made back then or at the very least in the early-late 2000s when Sonic Adventure DX: Director’s Cut, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and Sonic Heroes as well as the hit Saturday morning anime series, Sonic X were released, I was so eager for a Sonic movie that a couple of friends and I got together and made movies of our own when we were kids (They sucked BTW!).             

After years of waiting and Sonic making a few big screen appearances prior in Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph movies and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, the beloved hedgehog finally gets a movie of his own which leads us to today. The film is directed by newcomer Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut, produced by Neal H. Moritz (Fast & Furious franchise, XXX, 21/22 Jump Street), and executive produced by Tim Miller (Deadpool, Terminator: Dark Fate) and is a live-action/animated hybrid (Yep, just like Alvin and the Chipmunks and The Smurfs), which had me very worried when it was announced back in 2014 and was even more worried and disgusted when the first trailer came out last year which had an absolutely atrocious design for Sonic, fortunately they fixed it.

So, how does Sonic’s first movie hold up? Honestly, while I can’t call it the Sonic movie I wanted as a child, I had a fun time with it. It isn’t a perfect representation of its source material and the plot is pretty generic, but the charm of the film’s leads, humor, and subtle references to the games that inspired it are enough for me to overlook that flaw.             

The film follows Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz-Parks and Recreation, The Other Guys, The Walk), blue anthropomorphic talking hedgehog from another dimension with extraordinary speed who travels to Earth to escape from those who want to capture him and harness his power. However, when he accidentally causes a power outage while hiding out in the town of Green Hills (Get it?), Sonic is targeted by the government and the tyrannical mad scientist, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey-Ace Ventura 1 and 2, The Mask, The Truman Show) who plots to use Sonic’s power for world domination.             

This forces Sonic to team up with Green Hills sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden-X-Men franchise, Enchanted, Westworld) who agrees to help Sonic on his adventure to find his missing bag of magical rings that have the power to get him home. Of course, while getting into all sorts of trouble along the way.             The film also stars Tika Sumpter (Ride Along 1 and 2, Get On Up, Southside with You) as Tom’s wife Maddie, Adam Pally (Happy Endings, The Mindy Project, Iron Man 3) as Wade Whipple, and Neal McDonough (Star Trek: First Contact, Band of Brothers, Justified) as Major Bennington.             

Overall, Sonic the Hedgehog probably isn’t the movie longtime fans wanted, but it still manages to be an entertaining and fun adaptation in its own right. It’s easily one of the best films based on a video game alongside Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and The Angry Birds Movie 2 and shows that we’ve come a long way since the dark days of Uwe Boll’s directing career.

As mentioned before, the plot is nothing special and rehashed from other kids’ movies however what sets this apart from things like The Smurfs or Masters of the Universe is that Sonic and Tom do have a strong chemistry together. It’s amusing to see them interact with each other on their road trip, cracking jokes, getting into trouble, and over the course of the film they learn more about one another thus making you care more for them over ANY Smurf or Chipmunk. 

While there are a few jokes that don’t quite stick the landing, the humor for the most part not only made me laugh but there were moments in this movie where I laughed hard. Whether the film was poking fun at the entire Sonicfranchise, a particular running sequence that’s obviously a reference to the Quicksilver scenes from the X-Men movies, or Sonic breaking the fourth wall similar to Deadpool, I was laughing while also admiring how clever some of these jokes are, and let’s not forget Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik, but we’ll get to him momentarily.

The redesigned Sonic is a lot better than what we could have gotten, he doesn’t have those ugly small eyes, questionable muscular arms and legs, or the terrifying human teeth anymore. Now, his appearance is more faithful to the source material recreating the hedgehog’s cartoony nature but is different enough to stand out from the rest of the character’s previous designs and be its own unique creation, this is a really good design for Sonic and had the filmmakers went with their original version, this movie would have crashed and burned even harder than Sonic ’06.

Besides Sonic being more appealing to look at now, he’s also just as entertaining to listen to, Ben Schwartz while he’s far from being a replacement for Roger Craig Smith, Ryan Drummond, Jason Griffith, or even Jaleel White, does a solid job providing Sonic’s voice and captures the cocky, arrogant, but good-natured attitude Sonic is known for having. He actually almost sounds like Ryan Drummond’s Sonic voice without sounding like a cheap impersonation.             Moving on to Sonic’s new friend that doesn’t have two tails, James Marsden as Tom, his performance is decent even though he doesn’t quite make as big an impression as Ben Schwartz’ Sonic and especially Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik. With that said, he gets some funny lines once in a while and as mentioned before has good chemistry with Sonic, so yeah, believe it or not James Marsden was partnered up with another CG animated character and this time came out with his dignity unlike his performance in Hop.             

Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik owns every scene that he’s in, he’s no Mike Pollock and is a radically different Robotnik than from the games, but Carrey’s energetic and wildly animated personality shines through and gives a million percent whenever the crazy evil genius is on-screen. He’s certainly a lot better than Dennis Hopper as Koopa from the Super Mario Bros. movie.

Hopefully, this movie will be a hit during its theatrical run because I’d love to see a sequel especially if it introduced other Sonic characters like Tails, Knuckles, or even Shadow. Don’t make this like the recent Power Rangers movie, I need my big screen version of those characters!

Whether a fan, newcomer, or just looking for something fun to take the kids to, Sonic the Hedgehog should make everyone happy. It’s not perfect but it has enough action, wit, and charm to make it worth checking out. You’ll be “Up, Over, and Gone” before you know it.

For more movie reviews please visit: https://moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com

[holy-fate-worse-than-death]

If I could make a DC comics character

Just a big + strong lady. No superpowers, she's just fucking jacked. Carries Batman over one shoulder fireman-style when he's knocked unconscious.

But she's not the stereotypical strong woman. She doesn't grunt and she's not portrayed as unintelligent, none of that "gentle giant" trope. She's just like a big strong gay lady who probably thinks Batwoman is a goddess and wears Wonder Woman t-shirts to bed.

You thought Jason Todd had the thickest thighs in Gotham? Well watch out, there's a new contender on the block.

She works with Robin (Damian) one time and he's being stubborn, so she just lifts him above her head like she's playing keep-away and wades through a sea of thugs with him squirming in her arms

Everyone assumes she's pretty young, but she's actually slightly older than Bruce Wayne, and occasionally she drops these deep-cut references to pre-Zero Year Gotham and Batman just frowns as he tries to puzzle out who tf she is

Her patrol route in Gotham primarily encompasses The Narrows, because she has a knack for being able to help the seemingly helpless, and she has a deeper understanding of poverty than the bats ever could

In her day-to-day life, when she isn't doing superhero stuff, she's an activist of some kind. She probably runs one of Gotham's most well-established NGOs, and she's probably been invited to speak at the United Nations at least once. (Wonder Woman was there and she got so excited she cried.)

This means she keeps up with Gotham's current events and has an intense knowledge of the city's socio-political landscape.

She reads every news publication in Gotham: all the usual suspects, plus the Gotham University paper, every Vice-style indie news outlet, even the gossip rags.

But she also trawls social media. She knows every bit of drama that's going down at Gotham Academy, and knows that there are four different tenants in the same apartment building in Lower Gotham all complaining about the same strange odour coming from the 5th floor that sounds a lot like Scarecrow's doing.

Her guilty pleasure is that she has notifications turned on for the accounts of every Wayne family member, and she keeps up with them like they're the Kardashians.

... Even though she's definitely protested outside of Wayne Tower a time or two in her day.

When she finds out Batman is Bruce Wayne, she leverages it to make Gotham a better place. She'll just burst into his office like:

"Mr Wayne, I think it would be very beneficial to the community for you to invest in this black-owned start-up business."

"Mr Wayne, don't you think it would be worthwhile for you to support this Native American organisation, given how much of their land your ancestors took from them?"

She's a ruthless intersectional feminist and she's the leftism to Batman's liberalism

OC: "Bruce, one of Gotham's oldest gay bars is closing down, I think you should buy it."

Bruce: "The optics on that are... complicated."

OC: "Not really, Dick Grayson was photographed there last week."

I like the idea of her being a mental health practitioner of some kind (idk what the proper terms for MH workers are in the US, I'd have to look into it), but I think she should be focused on community service and trauma-informed care. She probably also cares about recovery-oriented MH a lot and would work well with people experiencing addiction, and people experiencing poverty who don't have the money for clinical mental health care (psychologists, psychiatrists, etc).

She's also definitely lobbying for Arkham Asylum to be renamed and restructured (seriously, who still calls them asylums? It's 2019)

Appearance-wise she's jacked and has a tonne of someone-did-this-in-a-kitchen-at-a-party-with-a-sewing-needle-taped-to-the-end-of-a-pencil tattoos that are faded and patchy. It makes people think she's been to prison, and when people ask she never gives an answer one way or another. As a result of said tattoos, she's always dressed in long sleeves and long pants (turtlenecks or button-downs, the occasional blouse), and her superhero suit covers her entire body. It's similar to something like Red Hood's suit, because she values armour and protection over speed, but she still wants a level of manoeuvrability.

I think at some point she figured out Superman was Clark Kent, so in her day-to-day life she wears glasses even though she doesn't need them, she just thinks it's really funny and always chuckles in the mirror when she puts them on.

She probably has really drab, long brown hair (going grey) that she wears in a bun 24/7, and she rolls her sleeves up when things get intense. She's either wearing a button-down (when she's at work) or a checkered flannel shirt (when she's not at work) almost all the time, and watching her carefully and neatly fold up her sleeves around her elbows is the most nerve-wracking thing in the world. It's even been known to make Bruce Wayne flinch on occasion.

Things she said in front of Bruce Wayne once she found out he was Batman:

Batman and Superman have definitely fucked

*detailed explanation of exactly what furries are and why half of the superheroes and villains in Gotham are, in fact, furries, including Batman*

I think she's a bit of a conspiracy theorist, which means her and Red Robin should never be allowed in the same room alone. She's got a vibe similar to The Question in that way, but she's not a full-on, push-pins-and-strings-covering-the-whole-room conspiracy theorist. She's just a bit of a tin foil hatter. Disturbingly, Batman, Nightwing, etc. can't find any evidence to refute a lot of her theories, and their stories together often end in an eerie, open-ended conclusion that implies she could be right about everything.

I like to think she uses old phrases and Gotham-isms that people routinely forget are a thing. E.g. "What in the name of Riddler's left testicle?" (A reference to that time during the Zero Year when Riddler turned his camera on too early and broadcasted his entire scrotum to every citizen of Gotham.) Otherwise, she mostly speaks like Jack McCoy from the early days of the original Law & Order. E.g. "You really screwed the pooch on this one, Batman!" and other obscure North American idioms that haven't been used in 30 years.

I either picture her family-less, or like that part in season 2 of NCIS: LA where Agent Hanna just casually drops that he has two kids and a wife, btw, and up until that point you've been convinced he was single and a workaholic.

Honestly the more I think about it, the more I think this might just be an AU for Susie Su where her character is actually fleshed-out and not just fatphobic and two-dimensional

...

Guess I'll add this to the list of fanfics I gotta write, right behind the one I'm writing right now (*Jake Paul voice* link in bio) and the sequel to Batman Forever /Batman & Robin that's a standalone Nightwing movie lmao why am I like this

[harley-sunday]

The Draw (04)

Summary: The whirlwind starts at the 2018 ACE Comic Con in Phoenix but you’re not sure where it will end...

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x reader

Warnings: Language.

Word count: 3175

AN: For those of you have been around a little longer - this story was originally published on my secondary blog Leijona Writes, but then taken down again, so you may have already read it :) I don’t have a taglist, but if you follow Harley Sunday x Sebastian Stan you should see any update I post. Please let me know what you think!

Masterlist

“I’ll make it up to you at the after-party, ok?”

Sebastian’s words keep replaying in your head and so you’re a little distracted when Julie picks you up to go the theater for the movie screening shortly after he’s left. She’s talking about something but you don’t really hear what she’s saying and so you simply follow her.

The room she leads you into is big and it’s filled with people. You are pulled out of your daze by all the press walking past you on their way to the back rows where they’ll be seated during the movie. You try to act casual, nodding to a few of them as they pass you, as if this is a regular occurrence for you. You follow Julie to a row somewhere in the middle, Sebastian already seated a few chairs down from the aisle. There a couple of empty seats between you and him, just like there are on his other side.

“We like to give everyone some space,” Julie explains when she sees your confused look.

Your eyes dart across the room and you see what she means - except for the press area, which is packed, there are quite a few empty rows and seats in between the groups of people scattered across the room.

Julie gives you a little push then, just as the lights are dimmed, “Have fun, and wait for me to pick you up after, ok?”

You nod and watch over your shoulder as she walks a couple of rows back, where the other Marvel employees must be seated. You take the few steps needed to get to your chair and sit down next to Sebastian, who’s keeping his eyes on the screen in front of him until the room’s almost dark.

He turns to you then and smiles, “Hey,”

“Hey,” you smile back.

He gestures to his left, where a little table has been set up, filled with snacks and drinks, “Can I get you anything?”

“Just a water for now, thank you,” you reply, your voice hushed as the murmur around you dies down. Your fingers brush his hand ever so slightly as you take the glass from him and you look at him, smiling, “Thank you.”

The curtains are lifted then and your attention is on the screen, where the Russo brothers have appeared on stage to introduce the movie. Their speech is short, but heartfelt, and as soon as they step off stage the room goes completely dark and the Marvel logo appears on screen. You lean back in your chair, forgetting everything around you as the newest Avengers movie starts playing.

“Holy shit!” you curse quietly when you see what’s happening on screen. Next to you, you feel Sebastian tense up and you wonder if it’s because you scared him or if there’s something worse about to come but you don’t even get to finish that thought because the next scene makes you jump in surprise and you don’t even realize you have grabbed a hold of Sebastian’s arm until you hear him chuckle slightly, patting your hand with his.

“Shit, sorry,” you whisper, looking down and releasing your death grip.

He keeps his hand on yours though, mouth close to your ear when he whispers, “You might want to keep it there for a little while longer,”

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding when the credits start rolling, and carefully run your pinkies underneath your eyes, trying to dry your tears before the lights come on.

Next to you, Sebastian leans into you, “I’ll see at the party, ok?”

You nod and watch as he gets up, smooths out his dress jacket and walks past you to the exit, making his way to the press event. You see more and more people getting up, but your eyes are back on the screen again, waiting for the infamous Marvel teaser at the end of every movie. It does not disappoint.

Julie slips into the seat beside you once the lights have been turned on again and is all smiles, “So, what do you think?”

You shake your head, still not believing what you just saw, “It was amazing!”

“Right?” Julie agrees, “I think this is the best one yet.” She looks at her watch then, “We might as well make our way to the bar now, everyone’s gathering there for the after-party anyway.”

“Ok,” you agree and get up, following her through to a set of doors different from the ones you came into, finding yourself in a dimly lit bar, with sitting areas scattered across the room and a dance floor in the middle. Everything is black and white, from the bar itself to the chairs, to the art that’s hanging on the walls and you look around in amazement, trying to take it all in.

You order a glass of white from one of the waiters and stand at one of the round high tables together with Julie who’s pointing out some of her colleagues to you as a way to kill time. You’re thankful she’s so chatty because for some reason you’re feeling slightly nervous. With your back towards the wall you position yourself so you have a good view of the entrance, being able to keep an eye on things without having to look over your shoulder all the time.  

A waiter brings you your wine just as the double doors open and most of the cast walks in, their excitement filling the room, drawing applause and cheers from the people there. Your eyes scan the crowd, looking for Sebastian, but you don’t see him yet and so you focus on Julie again, certain that he’ll find you once he gets here.

It’s hard for you to focus on the small-talk Julie’s attempting to engage you in, and so your eyes wander across the room. A group of two guys and a girl approach your table and you guess they must be Julie’s colleagues from the way she greets them enthusiastically. The girl, Fiona, seems nice and turns out to be the girlfriend of the first guy, Jason, who just nods in hello. It’s the second guy that grabs your attention though, and it’s not because he’s obviously checking you out, but also because he looks so much like Mark you actually have to do a double take to make sure it’s not him. But then he introduces himself and you hear the infamous North Carolina drawl that Mark hated so much and you let out an audible sigh of relief.

“Are you ok?” Adam asks, brows knitted together in confusion.

“Yeah,” you nod, scrambling your brain for an explanation, “it’s just, it sounds like you’re from my neck of the woods.”

He smiles then, a little nod when he says, “Union County, North Carolina. You?”

“Charlotte,” you reply, even though you don’t really want to have this conversation right now. He looks so much like Mark that it makes you a bit uneasy and you’re trying to suppress the memories that are starting to resurface.

“So practically neighbors then,” Adam grins. “You don’t seem to have the accent though,” he remarks, before taking a sip of his beer.

“I’m import,” you offer, because honestly it’s not his fault he reminds you of Mark and that you’re anxiously waiting for Sebastian to come and sweep you away, “born and raised in New York, but moved to Charlotte when I started at UNC and never left.”

“And why would you?” Adam says with another grin. He starts telling you about how it’s funny because he actually went to NYU but you’re only half listening because you see Sebastian come in then, his eyes darting across the room before landing on yours just as Adam throws his arm around your shoulders, pulling you close as he finishes his story, “North Carolina, for life, am I right?”

You look up at him, trying your best to smile but shrugging his arm off all the same. You don’t like it when people you hardly know touch you. You try to find Sebastian again, but seem to have lost him amongst the crowd and you let out a frustrated sigh.

Adam is already onto another conversation, trying to explain to Fiona and Jason why he thinks everyone should live in New York at least once during their twenties, but neither of them seem to be paying much attention to him either.

Julie gently taps your shoulder then, “Sebastian just got here,” she points to the far corner of the room, “his table is over there somewhere, do you want me to walk you there?”

“Nah, that’s fine,” you smile, happy to relieve her of her babysitting duties. You grab your clutch from the table and open your arms to give her a hug, “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me, Julie, I really appreciate it.”

“My pleasure,” she says, squeezing you tight. She lets go of you and smiles, “Listen, I know you’re not leaving until Wednesday, so if you have some time to spare let me know, ok? Maybe you could come over for dinner or something.”

“I will,” you reply with a grateful smile, “Let’s keep in touch either way, ok?”

“Definitely,” she beams back before gently shoving you in the right direction.

You give her one last wink over your shoulder and make your way across the room, the train of your dress flowing behind you, making you feel like you’re on your own personal runway and you giggle at the thought. You’re almost at level with the bar when all of a sudden you’re yanked back and you stumble, trying to keep your balance. So much for being the next supermodel.

“Oh, shit,” you hear behind you and you turn around to see Chris Evans step off your dress, looking absolutely horrified. He holds out his hands, “Shit, I am so sorry!”

You can’t help but laugh at how guilty he looks, “It’s ok, really.”

But he’s already bending down, picking up the train and examining it, letting out a relieved sigh when he realizes it’s not ripped. He carefully places it back down and looks at you, “Let me at least buy you a drink for nearly tripping you,”

“Well, I’m not going to say no to that,” you grin, and follow him to the bar where the bartender takes your order.

Leaning against the bar he turns to you and holds out his hand, “I’m Chris, by the way,”

“I know,” you say, taking his hand, then shaking your head at your reply. “I mean, nice to meet you,” you try again with a smile, “I’m (Y/N).”

His face lights up then, “You’re the Comic Con, girl, right?”

You look at him, eyebrows knitted together in confusion, because yes, technically you are the Comic Con girl, but how would he know?

He must sense your confusion, “Seb told me about it,” he explains, his hand on your arm then, “Listen, tell your nephew Captain America really was sorry for not making it.”

You stifle a laugh, “Will do,” not having the heart to tell him that ever since Comic Con he’s been downgraded to number three on Jake’s favorite superheroes list, now behind the Winter Soldier and Falcon.

Your drinks are put in front of you then and he holds up his bottle of beer for you to clink your glass against, “Cheers,”

“Cheers,” you join in, taking a sip of your drink. “Listen,” you start, just as Chris says, “You were probably on your way to Sebastian, right?”

You laugh, “Yeah,”

“Well go on then,” he says, gently nudging your shoulder with his, “I’m sure he’s waiting for you.”

“Thanks for the drink,” you say, holding up your glass one more time, a cheeky grin on your lips when you say, “And you know, for not ripping my dress and exposing me to the entire room earlier.”

Chris lets out a loud laugh and you see him grabbing his left pec as you turn and head towards Sebastian’s table, a smile on your lips.

You find him talking to Anthony when you get there and he nods at you, not really acknowledging you any further, and you wonder what’s going on but then the woman sitting next to Anthony gets up and introduces herself as Sheletta, Anthony’s wife, compliments your dress in the most genuine way and tells you to come sit with her.

The conversation with her flows effortlessly after that, another woman from across the table joining in when you’re talking about growing up in New York and you are surprised at how nice everyone is to you. Well, everyone except Sebastian, who still hasn’t said anything.

So much for making it up at the after-party, you think to yourself.

About four glasses of wine later you look at your phone and see it’s already three at night and you realize that’s why you’ve started to feel a little tired although your head is also slightly buzzing from the alcohol. You look over to your left, finding both Anthony’s and Sebastian’s seat empty and you decide right then that you might as well go back to the hotel, because apparently Sebastian’s not the gentlemen you thought he was.

You know you’re probably not being entirely fair to him, there must be more important people he has to speak to, but you really don’t feel like sitting around, waiting for him to come talk to you. You take your clutch from the table and thank Sheletta for the nice evening, excusing yourself. You all but storm out of the room, only to be stopped by a concerned-looking Julie.

“Are you ok?” she asks, her cheeks red and speech slightly slurred from celebrating the movie’s release with a few cocktails no doubt.

You nod, “Yeah, just tired.” You give her another hug and tell her to enjoy the party. As an afterthought you add, “Will you please thank Sebastian for inviting me?”

You see a look of confusion pass across her face, but you don’t want to have to explain so you turn and walk out of the bar before she has a chance to say anything, making your way to the exit where you haul a cab to take you back to the hotel.

Your mind is going a million miles an hour once you step into your room about thirty minutes later and you keep going back and forth between being grateful that Sebastian’s even invited you to the premiere, and thinking he’s an utter asshole for ignoring you most of the night.

You fling your clutch on the bed, before your dress ends up in a pile on the floor somewhere and you aggressively wipe your makeup off, your cheeks reddened from scrubbing too hard. After brushing your teeth, you put on the NCU shirt that you use as pajamas and get into bed. There are tears burning in your eyes when you let everything sink in, but you wipe at them aggressively, refusing to cry over something that never was. Instead you take your phone out of your clutch and pull up your texting app, sending a quick text to your best friend.

Call me when you’re up.

Your phone rings not even a minute later and you realize it’s already six-thirty in Charlotte and Lauren is probably ready to go to the gym. For once you’re glad she’s such a ridiculous morning person. You take the call with a simple, “Hey,”

“Oh no,” she replies, her voice dropping, “not good?”

You shake your head even though she can’t see you, “Not really, no,”

“Talk to me, babe,”

And you do. You tell her about the amazing day you’ve had, starting with the beauty salon and ending in the lobby just before the screening. You lean back into your pillow and sigh, “And from then on he pretty much ignored me.”

You think you hear her whisper a quiet, “Fuck him,” but you’re not sure and so you continue.

“I guess I get it, you know? I mean, technically he did invite me to come to the premiere, he never said anything about spending time with-”

“Babe,” Lauren interrupts, “come on! This doesn’t add up. He flies you out to L.A., and remember, it wasn’t just you to start with, it was Nathan and Sarah and Jake too,”

“Hmm” you agree quietly.

“You’re in a nice hotel, fully paid for, even after you say you’d like to stay a couple of days longer,” she tuts then. “It just doesn’t make any sense that he would do all that and then not talk to you for the entire night.”

You let out a sigh, “But why then?”

“I don’t know,” she says and you can hear she’s just as clueless as you are.

“I guess we’ll never know,” you say, feeling a little defeated. “It is what it is.”

“You are staying in L.A. though, right?”

“Yeah,” you reply, matter-of-factly, “I don’t see why not. I could do with some me-time,”

“Yass,” Lauren agrees, and you can imagine her nodding fiercely, knowing that what you need right now is some encouragement instead of tough love. “Treat yo self, girl!”

You laugh then, “What is it you always say?”

“You are a strong independent woman who don’t need no man,” Lauren deadpans immediately, laughing with you.

“I do need some sleep though,”

“Call me later today, ok?” Lauren says, concern seeping through her voice and you love her for it.

“I will,” you agree, knowing she’s just looking out for you, “Love you.”

“Love you too, babe,”

You wake up from the sun peaking in between the curtains that in your anger you forgot to close all the way last night and you look at your phone, seeing it’s already eleven. You groan, still feeling a little frustrated at what happened. Getting out of bed you decide to take a shower first and have breakfast somewhere after, before exploring the city some more in the afternoon.

The shower actually helps and you feel a bit better when you walk into the room again, dressed in dark jeans and a white singlet, and you open the curtains all the way, the sun at its highest point, the sky a clear blue. You quickly make your bed and pick your dress up off the floor, draping it over the chair in the corner.

You put your hair in a messy bun before you put on a simple white dress shirt, rolling up the sleeves as you walk to the closet to get your white Converse. You’ve just put on your shoes when there’s a knock on your door. Without thinking too much about who it could be, you open the door, surprised to see Sebastian standing there.

“Hi,” he says, looking at you from underneath his lashes, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, “Can I come in?”

[edyacouky]

DC Comics JayRoy Wedding (2/6)

(Can be read on AO3)

Like Jason was hopping for his ex-mentor, the first year of his marriage was more than good. Bruce and Selina were still happy together and the family seems more and more accepted about Selina in the Wayne Family and the Batfamily.

This year for Jason was horrible in many ways.

The relationship he try having with a woman fails miserably.

Kory decides go alone to a personal mission. Jason understands that she needed to do that, but he missed her. And when he learned that her and Dick had The Discussion and decide try again to have a relationship, he knew that he lost her.

Roy and he were a good team. Jason loved work with Roy, his relationship with him. Not really lover, more than friend. But when it was obvious that what Roy want and need with what Jason was, they have to separate.

And it was ugly. Jason didn’t want Roy’s friendship that he gives him by pity. Because he knew Jason was alone. Jason was so lonely. So they both said awful to each other, knowing each other too well.

His relationship with Bruce becomes worst with each mission, each day. The disagreement with his rule only grow up and become more and more incompatible with his desire to go to Gotham and help his city.

All of that and he feels he had no one to talk. He had no friend left. His relationship with his brothers and sister and Alfred go to so-so at good, but he can’t trust them not talk at Bruce after. So he just say “I am fine” and do the only thing he can: Being soldier.

Each day was the same miserable day.

Even the invitation didn’t change anything.

Dick and Kory getting married and they wanted him to come. Or at least Kory, since she is the one wanted him being her witness.

“I am legally dead, Kory. If someone discovers an alias was use for your wedding you can have problem. Choose someone else. Jason refused

-But how can I be sure you come if I can’t give you an important task.

-You can’t.” Jason though

He wasn’t even sure he will come. His family plus his old teammates when he was Robin plus Roy? He prefer be dead again.

“What?” Jason hears Kory said

Dick seems telling her something.

“Yes! It is perfect! Jason?

-Still here.

-We had to modify our rings size. The wedding day you have taken them from the jewelry store and bring it to us!

-Why the wedding day? I can go take it sooner.

-Because we will not give the store’s name until then, Little Wing.

-That’s stupid. I might not be the smatter Robin but I can find this shop easily.

-Please Jason. For me.

-I don’t want waste your wedding. Jason admitted after a silence

-You will not. Please, just come.”

So here he comes. In the morning, Dick sent him the Jewelry shop’s address. When he enters in the church, he wanted give the rings, his felicitation and go. But Kory’s smile and Dick’s hug disarmed him. They really seem happy to see him.

“I am pretty sure spouse don’t must see each other before ceremony.

-That’s just a silly Earth tradition.

-And we both make sure you stay. You have a seat waited for you beside Alfred.

-So in the front? No thanks. If your wedding is as long as Bruce’s I prefer seat in the back.

-Alfred will be disappointed. It’s been a while since he saw you.

-That’s not fair using Alfred against me.

-Never say I playing fair.

-And for the reception! Have at least one drink with us!

-Just one drink. I have back to work.” Jason lied

If Dick and Kory didn’t believe him, they show nothing.

“I will take my seat. Kory, you are beautiful. Dick, happy to see you didn’t choose your suit.

-Hey!”

They laugh and Jason leaves them alone. Like Dick and Kory, his family seems mostly happy to see him. Except maybe Bruce who look at him with doubt.

“That’s not fair! Damian said for the nth time. I should be Grayson’s witness!

-We told you a million times. The witness can’t be a minor.

-Then he should have wait I have eighteen years old!

-He has a point. Jason said amusing

-Jason, please.” Bruce said

It was stupid really but his voice, his intonation make disappear Jason’s good will.

“What I am doing here?” He asked to himself. Bruce didn’t want see him, in fact no one want see him, Jason realized, Bruce was just honest. He knew but it still hurt. Like it still hurt that Roy laugh with the friends he deserve and ignoring him.

“What I am doing here?”

He has the sensation being in a fog for all the time. Reacting by automatism. Forcing a smile every time Kory looks at him or for the photo he can’t avoid. Even when he catch again the bouquet, he wasn’t surprised, happy, embarrassed. He was just hurt, especially when the same joke that last year were told to him, especially when Roy look at him with a pleased smile. Why did he smile like that? He wasn’t like he still like Jason or something like that. He will never drink that drink fast enough.

Roy was really nervous when he takes seat for the reception. He succeed convince Kory and Dick that it would be a good idea that he seat next to Jason. At first, all he wanted was an excuse to talk with Jason. He miss him and he was hopping they could stop their argument and be friend again.

But after seeing Jason today, he was worried. Jason wasn’t fine. He was miserable. During all the ceremony, he keeps his attention to Dick and Kory, but then Jason catches the bouquet.

Roy was glad see Jason with the bouquet, wishing all the happiness who came with it, but all he saw was a Jason ready make a mistake. He has to help him somehow.

“Of course, Kory could help her. Jason sighing when he see Roy

-Hey

-Hey.”

Jason look around but seems think next to Roy was not the worst place. Good point for him, he supposes.

“How are you?

-Fine. You?

“Jaybird, I know you. How are you?

-Which games do you play?

-None. I am worried for you because I like you. That’s all.

-You don’t like me. You pity me, which is funny from you.

-Don’t do that again.

-I will see if I can seat elsewhere.

-Jaybird!”

But Jason didn’t look for an another seat, he took two full alcohol bottle and go outside to drink.

Roy joins him least than half an hour later, just the time he needs to calm himself.

“You are already drunk?” Roy said like he can’t believe that

Jason shrugs and proposes the half empty bottle to Roy.

“How dare you? Roy exclaimed angry and hurt. You know that I have problem and …

-Yeah, I know. I am the problem. So what do you do here?”

The smell of alcohol, the fact that he thinks Jason will let him drink perturbed Roy. He can’t think.

“I can’t talk to you when you are like that.

-Then go. What do you wait?

-You did that on purpose.

-Just go.”

Roy doesn’t want leave Jason but he is too scared about what he would do.

“Shit. You know me so much, Jaybird. You always know where to hurt.” Roy said before go

Jason hate himself more than ever for make Roy cry. But he know he didn’t deserve him, so why let him enters in his life to be hurt?

“Roy, are you…?”

Here comes Bruce. That should be fun.

“What’s meaning of this? Don’t tell me you let Roy see you like that?

-I won’t tell you.

-That’s enough. Give me this bottle and your cars key.

-Or what B?

-Give me that bottle and your key.”

Jason wants a fight. He feels so miserable and lonely and angry. He needs a fight.

He starts dinking what it’s left in the bottle without stop looking at Bruce. The latter take the bottle, throw away all the liquid and take the second too.

“I can’t believe you’re doing that to Dick’s wedding.

-Doing what? Drink? Not want talk to someone? It’s family thing.

-Give me your car key now. I will not repeat again.”

Jason clumsy start searching his key in his pocket, while Bruce keeps talking.

“You’re going to the Manor with me.

-Prefer be dead again.”

Jason finally found it and without hesitates, throw it away. Bruce sight.

“Really mature. You realize it is your key, right?

-I don’t have twenty one yet. I don’t have to be mature.”

Sadness expression on Bruce’s face almost makes Jason vomiting. Nothing to do with all the alcohol he was drinking.

“Just stay there.” Bruce said and more gentle than before then he go take the key lying on the ground.

He wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t see Jason but he was worry and disappointed in a way only Jason manage to make him feel. If only he knew what to do with Jason, with Red Hood, with his son. But the awful true is he didn’t know either this person, didn’t know what they need, what he must do for them. For a control freak like Batman, for a loving person like Bruce, it was a frustrating tragedy.

Jason enter Bruce and Selina’s car with their key he stole earlier, knowing how thing will finish. He go out the city without hesitate, without obey the speed limit. He should not do that, especially as drunk as he is. What can he say? More he drive more he is sure he will put an end on everything tonight. If he is lucky, this time will be painless.

“Ok, that’s enough.” Selina said in the back

Suddenly she appears in the mirror and go seat in the front next to Jason.

“What are you doing here? Jason exclaimed slow down the car and focuses more on the road

-When I saw you today, I couldn’t help but remember that one time we work together. We saw a car just like that and you said that if it will be your coffin you will be ok with that.

-Bruce knows?

-No. He would be a mother hen with you all night and feeling miserable for bringing this car.

-Yeah. We shouldn’t hurt Bruce feeling.

-True is if your died in his car because he fail bringing you home, this time he will not survive you enough to our next anniversary.

-It’s your problem, not mine.

-If you say so. But I am sure enough you will not do something if it could kill someone.

-That the reason you’re here? I am murderer. I could kill both of us and laugh thinking it would kill Bruce.

-You are a murderer by necessity not by pleasure. I trust you.”

Suddenly Jason stops the car after he quits the road. He takes deep breath. He didn’t want hurt Selina in any way. He didn’t even think of Bruce and his parody of family when he takes his decision. He was just thinking about that for a while now and when he sees the car he was thinking: “Universe sends me a sign” like Universe never fuck him.

He leaves the car, he need some fresh air. He seat on the hood and incapable keep an impassible face, he cry and cry. Selina go after him, seat right next to him. She is not touching him but she is ready for hugging him.

They stay like that for a little while until Selina’s phone ring.

“Selina, Bruce said, I can’t find Jason. You are not at the party either …

-Breathe. He is with me. Everything will be fine.”

Jason was sure she tells this more for him than for Bruce but he cannot even smile to thank her.

“Where are you?

-I don’t think it is a good idea I tell you.

-Selina, please. He is my son I need see by myself if he is alright.”

Selina open his mouth for disagree but another voice appears.

“Do you know where Jason is?”

Jason start cried again earing Roy voice but ask Selina her phone.

“Roy. Jason said when he sure his voice won’t shake

-Jason!

-I am sorry for being a jerk to you since we know each other. And what I did to your earlier was cruel and unfair. I hope you will be happy.

-Jason…

-Wait. I need to throw up.

-What?”

Jason gives back her phone to Selina before vomited at some foot from the car. He ear Selina said:

“Yeah, not an excuse. He is really sick. Call you back later.”

What happen next sound like a dream. He doesn’t really remember Selina take him to one of his safe house, force him has a shower and put him in bed. But the next afternoon, his head seems like it want kill him, he feels sick. He had so little faith in his day when he wakes up. Then he sees Roy send him a text.

“What you did last night was The Asshole Move. And at Kory’s wedding! I am really angry at you for that!

But I swear to God if you try ignoring me again I will make sure you are not coming back to life a second time.

You are my best friend and I love you.

We are going to talk about all of that.

Yeah talk. Can’t think of worse torture for you.”

Suddenly Jason cries and laughs.

He didn’t deserve this man but he loves him so much he can’t live without him.

[firefrightfic]

Fun question! 

So as anyone who follows my main blog @crumpeting will have probably guessed by the amount of gif sets I’ve reblogged, I’m loving the Titans tv show. It’s an amazingly well done representation of the characters based heavily off the 80s New Teen Titans comics run by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, but also with enough deviations from the source material to make it very much its own unique thing. I’ve been particularly thrilled at getting to see official live-action representations of the DickKory relationship and Jason, and (at least so far) I’ve been enjoying what they’re doing with Dick and Bruce as well.

I think deciding to start the show when they did was a very wise choice, because that period of time when Dick falls out with Bruce in the comics and goes through his journey of self-discovery from Robin to Nightwing is one of the best character arcs he has. I like that they’re showing how toxic their relationship can be at the worst of times, and how important it is for Dick to be stepping away and figuring out who he is outside of being Batman’s partner before he ends up being just like him permanently.

The idea that being under Bruce’s tutelage had led to Dick being a colder person than he likes to be is ripped straight out of the comics, as is how forming the new Titans team/family helps him move past that (it’s also one of my favourite ways to show just how important Dick and Kory’s relationship with each other is, as she was a big part of reminding him how life didn’t have to be so grim and dark all the time, there could be fun and light as well).

Please ignore Dick’s terrible disguise here.

His next line after this panel in particular shows just what a negative effect living and growing up alone with Batman for years had on him as well.

“I used to crack jokes, but now I actually find things funny.”

When connected to this, it’s easy to see just how good a job Titans is doing with hitting the same beats of Dick’s development of a character as well. Dick at the start of the show is grim. He doesn’t really laugh. He barely even smiles, and though he makes some wisecracks, he rarely looks as if he’s actually enjoying himself with them. He’s forgotten how to have fun, and how to just enjoy being around other people after being at Bruce’s side for so long, absorbing all that dark intensity that Bruce exudes at every moment (the way he tries to socialise at Donna’s photography exhibit last episode just about killed me, e.g “I wonder what the Penguin’s doing right now.”). He’s almost a mini Bruce himself in personality and violence, and has yet to find the balance in life that enables him to be the person *cough*Nightwing*cough* we all know and love him as today, especially around his former partner, and that’s fascinating. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they continue to develop him past this point in the future, and what steps they might take to eventually resolve their relationship the way it needs to be resolved.

(I also have to remark that I loved the way they communicated Bruce’s flair for the dramatic in the way he leaves baby Dick that note in the flashback. “Ah yes, I shall invite this child to be a vigilante with me through the art of writing vague letters and then lurking creepily around corners for him to find them. That is absolutely the correct and healthy way to do this.”)

That said, there are some things I’m not quiiiite on board with? Namely the idea that Bruce put a tracker in Dick’s arm without his consent. Not in his clothes or his Robin uniform, but his arm, and even when Dick leaves to try and pursue a normal life away from superheroing, he still doesn’t disable it. It’s a level of invasive I don’t think Bruce -- particularly young twenty-something Bruce who hasn’t lost a partner yet -- would jump to, and more something done just to drive that wedge between Dick and Bruce deeper on the show. Also plot convenience.

I’m also hoping that they won’t keep up this habit of never actually having Bruce appear onscreen for too long. It’s effective at this point, but could easily grow tiresome if they keep it up past the first season. Plus, god knows it wouldn’t be a proper depiction of Bruce and Dick angst if they don’t have at least one punch up with each other at some point. It’s tradition.

But in summary, yes, I like the way they’re doing doing the fall out on the show. The representation of the negative effects of their relationship and Dick’s fear and resentment of the possibility of becoming just like his mentor is comics accurate, and I am absolutely looking forward to seeing more of it.

[laurenreviewsmovies]

Aquaman

Director: James Wan

Starring: Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Nicole Kidman

Release Date: December 21, 2018

My Rating: 8/10 (9/10 if you see it in IMAX 3D)

My Review (WITHOUT SPOILERS)

Disclaimer: Came into this movie pretty neutral but expecting a flop. I’ve never really gotten into the DC universe. It’s too dark for me. I like the classic Batman comics but that’s about it. I didn’t understand Superman Returns but that was my first ever superhero movie. The Dark Knight trilogy was waaaay too dark for me. Man of Steel is still the worst superhero movie I’ve ever seen. I was pleasantly surprised at Wonder Woman but still: it was dark. Even the coloring of that movie was blue and cold and dark. I heard how bad Batman v. Superman was though, as well as the Justice League, so I figured Wonder Woman was the exception and that this movie would be more along the lines of BvS and JL.

WOW. I did not expect to love this movie as much as I did. Perfect storytelling. Do you like mythology? The legends of King Arthur? The legend of Atlantis? The Little Mermaid? Thor? Black Panther? You’ll fucking love this movie.

Finally, a superhero movie with mommy issues instead of daddy issues. That was refreshing. This movie also had the healthiest family dynamics I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie. The parents love is so pure and so cute. The relationship between the brothers was super believable and reasonable. Arthur and his dad was the sweetest. His relationship with his mother almost made me cry. Beautiful.

Also! This is the most FEMINIST superhero movie I’ve ever seen. Arthur’s dad is such a feminist. His and Atlanta’s relationship is based off of love and mutual respect and it’s fantastic. As a result of being raised by his father, Arthur is also a feminist who often turns to the female characters for help and guidance. He often defers to them even though he’s the “true king”. The two main female characters of this movie are written so amazingly. They’re deep and developed. They’re badass, smart, funny, and can hold their own. They’re vital to the story, they don’t just serve as a love interest or as motivation for the hero. The genders are so nicely balanced in this movie. The women can kick ass but also be emotional. The men can kick ass but also be emotional. Aquaman isn’t the reigning hero of this story because he’s the man. He’s the hero because he has powers no one else can, and because he’s the destined ‘true king’ of Atlantis. Everyone else in this story is pretty much on equal ground, regardless of gender. Normally I’m annoyed with how women are portrayed in superhero movies, even if they’re supposedly badass. I loved every character of this movie and I have nothing bad to say about any of them.

The villains were awesome. There’s more than one. Their motivations 100% make sense. I liked them because while their motives made sense, it’s not to the point where you would agree with them. It’s not ambiguous. They’re villains with bad objectives. But you get why they’re there. The movie ends with possible redemption but also possible revenge.

This movie was so pretty!! They really went all out with the design of Atlantis. It was such a fantasy movie in a way that most superhero movies aren’t. In Thor, they tried to make Asgard look really cool but it came off as gaudy and not fully developed. This movie was the exact opposite. It was so detailed and so beautiful.

GO SEE THIS IS 3D. Sometimes, action/superhero movies have too much action. Too many fight scenes. Sometimes they last too long and get boring. very fight in this movie served a purpose and was also beautifully shot. The 3D element only made the fights that much cooler. Recently, it seems like a lot of the movies I see in 3D didn’t really need to be 3D. A couple of scenes looked cool in 3D but that was it. This ENTIRE movie looks badass in 3D.

This movie is a full on hero’s journey. It felt like a Greek myth, or a King Arthur tale. I love literature and I love the hero’s journey. It starts in the ordinary world. There’s a call to action and an initial refusal of that . My favorite archetype (the brother-battle) was front and center and perfectly executed. The wise adviser was present but not overbearing. There’s literally a ‘seizing of the sword’. I might be looking too much into it, but now I’m starting to think Aquaman is just a detailed allegory about King Arthur. I loved it.

The story telling in this movie was A+. The characters were all developed and important and believable and real. The setting was amazing. The ‘love story’ was more about his parents than about Aquaman and Mera. Mera is a complete badass in her own right. The iconic Aquaman outfit makes an appearance without looking ridiculous, and Jason Momoa is shirtless an appropriate amount of times. The ending sets up for a sequel but you can’t tell which direction that sequel will take. Willem Dafoe is in it! This movie was absolutely amazing and I’m going to see it at least one more time in theaters. WOW.

[ultralifehackerguru-blog]

New Post has been published on http://www.lifehacker.guru/patrick-melrose-how-benedict-cumberbatch-climbed-inside-his-favorite-antihero/

Patrick Melrose: How Benedict Cumberbatch Climbed Inside His Favorite Antihero

To prepare for his harrowing role as an addict in the Showtime limited series, Cumberbatch had to ask the tough questions: “Injecting cocaine: what is that like? Why would you do that?”

Benedict Cumberbatch on the set of Patrick Melrose

Photo by Julian Broad

As Emmy nominations approach, Vanity Fair’s HWD team is once again diving deep into how some of this season’s greatest scenes and characters came together. You can read more of these close looks here.

PATRICK MELROSE, PATRICK MELROSE

When a fan asked Benedict Cumberbatch during a 2013 Reddit A.M.A. what literary character he’d most like to play, he offered a definitive answer: Patrick Melrose, the brilliant, damaged vortex around which Edward St. Aubyn’sdevastating quintet of autobiographical novels swirl. The books—and now Patrick Melrose, the gorgeously harrowing Showtime limited series based on them—trace the life of this charismatic upper-class Englishman as he tries to wrestle free from the damage imposed on him in childhood by his monstrous father and learn how to lead a meaningful adult life.

When Cumberbatch rhapsodized about the character on a recent phone call, he spoke so quickly that my ear could hardly take it all in. Which was appropriate enough, since Patrick Melrose wraps himself in language, using words as a both a shield and a life raft. “They are very, very funny novels,” Cumberbatch said, “and there are very funny bits which turn on a knife’s edge, 180 degrees, into tragedy.”

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As an example, Cumberbatch pointed to a scene in the first episode in which the drug-addled, twentysomething Patrick views his father’s corpse at a funeral parlor. He unwraps the body, which has been discreetly covered with tissue paper, turning a grim moment into an exaggeratedly comic scene. “He starts having this dialogue with somebody who’s not there, thanking them for the present of his dead dad—and then he’s fully triggered into this memory of the trauma of being raped by his father. . . . That happens in the space of about 20 seconds him on the page,” said Cumberbatch. “When you get prose as deep and rich and profoundly revealing of a character’s nature, you’re really spoiled as an actor. So much of your background research, your development of deeper psychology, and internal-thought processes and psychology—it’s there on the page. And this man’s salvation comes through a huge amount self-examination. So I just always, always went back to the book on pretty much every level.”

HOW HE CAME TO LIFE

St. Aubyn’s Patrick Melrose novels have been picking up fans since he published the first in the series, Never Mind, in 1992. (The fourth installment, 2005’s Mother’s Milk, was nominated for a Booker Prize). So much of their pleasure derives from St. Aubyn’s prose that adapting them for the screen seemed like a doomed undertaking. Yet screenwriter and novelist David Nicholls bravely took on the challenge—which wound up consuming more than half a decade. The resulting limited series covers Patrick’s life from sensitive child to middle-aged parent struggling to break the cycle of abuse, with his debauched, twentysomething years serving as fodder for the intense opening episode. Certain essential qualities run through Patrick’s entire life, Nicholls pointed out in a separate interview: “The desire to be better, to be less separate from the world, to be less ironic and sardonic, less disengaged.”

Nicholls said he always had Cumberbatch in his head as he wrote Patrick Melrose,even before the actor independently expressed interest in an adaptation. The two men had worked together on Starter for 10, the 2006 British film based on Nicholls’s novel, in which Cumberbatch played a supporting role as the prissy captain of a university quiz-show team—an amusing but two-dimensional character, the kind of work Cumberbatch was beginning to find frustrating and limiting. “Benedict was clearly something special, but everyone also had the sense that he is one of those clowns who could also play Hamlet,” Nicholls said.

As it happens, the tormented Danish prince is precisely who came to mind when Nicholls embarked on translating Patrick Melrose for the small screen. The two characters have a lot in common, not least father issues and a complex relationship with their mothers. There’s also “the potential for frighteningly cruel behavior coupled with a desire—I think it’s a sincere desire—to do the right thing. And certainly the soliloquizing, the playing with ideas, is so much a part of [the books].”

Cumberbatch spent a great deal of time getting to know the author, “Teddy” St. Aubyn, while immersing himself in the role of Patrick. “I asked him about things I won’t go into in an interview, of a very personal nature,” Cumberbatch said, as well as more specific questions about drug addiction. “For example, injecting cocaine: What the fuck is that like? I mean, why would you do that? Why would you do that, and how would you do that? What would happen when you did that? How longwould it happen?” He rattled off those queries at top speed, as if tapping into a sense memory.

“There’s a sort of ringing quality to the way Teddy speaks—everything is very carefully considered, and you’ll drive through until the end of the sentence,” Cumberbatch continued. “They are beautiful sentences. He speaks with the same language he writes with. It’s a joy to be in conversation with the man.”

Patrick Melrose is more than just a character study; it’s also a harsh dissection of British mores. “It captures so much of the hypocrisy and cynicism and sickness” of the upper class, which “hides its secrets and confesses to nothing,” Cumberbatch said. Patrick’s father, David (Hugo Weaving), is a sadistic aesthete who has taken up cruelty in place of a profession. (“What redeemed life from complete horror was the almost unlimited number of things to be nasty about,” David proposes in Never Mind, the first book in the sequence.) His mother, Eleanor (Jennifer Jason Leigh), is a crushed heiress who has seceded from reality.

They are surrounded by equally horrifying members of the aristocracy—most notably, Princess Margaret (Harriet Walker), who in one episode appears as the guest of honor at a fancy dinner party. Far from the chic figure we know from The Crown, the princess here humiliates the French dignitary sitting next to her and callously dismisses the hosts’ young daughter when the girl shyly approaches in hope of meeting a royal. It is Patrick who kindly comes to the little girl’s rescue, seeing in her traces of his old sweet self, ignored by the adults and neglected by his parents.

Cumberbatch said that he too had glimpsed the codes and rituals of high society, through the posh world of his grandmother (“not that she was like that—she was a deeply caring and loving person,” he hastened to add) and his time at Harrow, one of Britain’s most elite boarding schools. “That world was definitely around me, but I wasn’t ever really fully engaged in it.”

Making sure Cumberbatch looked the part was also crucial. According to costume designer Keith Madden, Patrick comes from a British upper class that doesn’t follow fashion, but favors traditional dress that might be embellished with a twist of eccentricity. Colored socks, he said, are “the seal of the aristocratic upper classes.” Patrick may look imperturbable, but Madden hoped to suggest a juxtaposition between his fancy dress and his sordid reality—meetings with drug dealers, descents into a speedball-induced state of madness.

Beyond that, Madden looked to St. Aubyn himself for guidance. “I was privy to some photographs that Benedict showed me of Edward St. Aubyn as a young boy, and then as a young man in the 80s. So, that’s where a lot of the inspiration came from—even the shape of the sunglasses, and the striped shirts, and the pale stone-wash jeans of the time,” he said. Sometimes the author himself would visit the set, “and it would be funny, because he would be wearing something very similar to what Benedict would be wearing in the scene,” Madden said. “I would say, ‘Yeah, we’ve got it right!’”

Cumberbatch confessed that it’s a great relief to have done justice to St. Aubyn’s creation. “I felt a sort of double responsibility,” he said—not just as an actor bringing the character to life, “but also as a reader to other readers of these novels. I do think he’s written some of the best prose of the 21st century, if not the best—and one of my desires is to bring these works to the widest audience.”

Photos: On the Set of Showtime’s Patrick Melrose

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the title character in the forthcoming mini-series Patrick Melrose.

Photo: Photograph by Julian Broad.

(C)

[jerrydog]

Disclaimer: I was a huge fan of the Justice League Unlimited animated series while growing up. You can say that I’ve been waiting for this movie my entire life.

I’ve read a lot of the initial reviews before watching this movie, and to say that I was disheartened with what the critics were saying is an understatement. After watching it though, I have to agree with most of them. I am talking about the critics with mixed reactions. Those who gave overly negative reviews obviously already hated this movie before even seeing it. It’s so apparent in the way they wrote their reviews. And that dude who said the way they digitally removed Henry Cavill’s mustache was distracting? I don’t know what the hell he was talking about. These folks are the equivalent of online trolls and are best ignored.

This movie could have been better. In fact it should have been better. But with the way the studio decided to rush things, and with certain creative decisions Zack Snyder and Co. made in the previous DCEU movies (like prematurely killing off Superman), the people behind this movie were basically making a movie with one had tied behind their backs. The fact that they managed to create a movie that is both watchable and fun is nothing short of a miracle. I do think that Batman vs Superman was not really a bad movie. Even if they tried to cram so many things in it, even if it was overly long, even if the way they introduced the future Justice League members was so contrived— it was quite fun to watch especially for fans of DC comics, despite its numerous loopholes and ridiculous plot points (hello, Marthagate). A lot of people didn’t like it though, to them the good points weren’t enough to offset the bad. Many complained about the convoluted plot. Justice League is not guilty of that. In fact, the plot may be too simple. A lot of people didn’t appreciate the dark tone, especially the brutal portrayal of Batman (which I loved). They would like Justice League. it’s lighthearted and funny. A lot of people thought Batman vs Superman was too long and there are so many unnecessary scenes. Justice League is a taut 2 hours and almost every scene is essential. So evidently the producers are pandering to those people who hated the previous movie. However, there are still a lot of glaring faults that are difficult to ignore. 

First, more of the good stuff. As with the rest of Zack Snyder’s movies, the cinematography is astounding. Hate his movies all you want, but even the worst one looks gorgeous on the big screen. Yeah the CGI looks unrealistic at times, but never to the point that it gets distracting. Also typical of Zack Snyder’s movies are awesome action scenes. Almost all of the action sequences here were awesome. And again, that one involving the Amazons was spectacular, arguably the best one in the movie. Another good point? This movie had a lot of funny jokes, and none of them fell flat. Many times the movie theater was bursting with laughter. The acting was also good. Each actor was cast perfectly in their roles. And kudos to the people behind Jason Momoa’s casting. He did the unthinkable. he transformed a comic book character that is often the butt of jokes into someone awesome. Perhaps the best part is the interaction of our heroes with each other. This is probably Joss Whedon’s doing, and it’s better than his work on the Avengers movies.

These characters are really fun to watch, and that makes Warner Brother’s decision to create a Justice League movie before introducing these heroes in their own solo movies look even more boneheaded. Granted, Cyborg probably cannot launch his own movie. Except for kids familiar with him based on the cartoons, most people don’t know the character. The little backstory they had on him in Justice League was enough, similar to the way Black Panther’s short back story in Captain America: Civil War was enough. But the Flash can launch his own movie. The back story given to him in Justice League was severely lacking. He was hit by lightning. That’s it. This problem would have been avoided if he was introduced in his own movie. The same can be said with Aquaman. Granted, when they were planning all this nobody would probably watch a solo Aquaman movie, but if the character had an extended cameo elsewhere people would have seen how awesome he is and they would watch a solo Aquaman movie where they could further flesh out the character. And that movie should have been released before Justice League! Suicide Squad got away with this because most of those villains were unknowns to many people. But these are very popular superheroes, even more popular than most of those included in the Avengers. They need back stories to flesh them out.

I am also not a fan of the musical score. It sounded like music you hear from movies released in the 80′s or 90′s. This is most apparent on this movie’s version of Wonder Woman’s theme. Gone are the riffs that made it so awesome. What I heard was a version that is more apt in an Opera.That definitely made me cringe. 

Perhaps the worst part of this movie is the main villain. I am not gonna complain about his appearance or the fact that he is purely CGI. That would be nitpicking. This villain has no backstory at all. He invaded the Earth many centuries ago. That’s it. Where did he come from? How does he travel from one place to another through those portals? Where do those portals lead? The movie does not give any answers. In fact Steppenwolf’s appearances are so arbitrary, he’s only there so our heroes would have someone to fight. What makes it worse is that he’s a pansy. He is way weaker than all the previous villains in the DCEU. You’d think they would have created a more formidable opponent to justify the need for our heroes banding together. If there’s one good thing about our villain, it’s that his minions have at least some sort of character compared to the totally nondescript ones we’ve all seen in movies such as Suicide Squad and The Avengers (gasp! blasphemy!). Otherwise, he’s arguably the most useless villain we’ve ever seen in a Superhero movie. Such a pity because this character is pretty bad ass in the comics!

But as I’ve said, the awesome characterization and the interactions between these heroes are enough to save this movie. And perhaps general audiences would like it more— thanks to the funny jokes, the tighter pacing, the reduced screen time, and the lighter tone. By the time the end credits rolled a lot of people were clapping their hands. I did not witness such a reaction when I saw Batman vs Superman. Justice League may be flawed, but based on that reaction i guess Warner Brothers is headed in the right direction. I just hope that by the time the sequel comes out, we will finally get the Justice League movie that we all deserve.

—

my rating: 3.5/5

[jspark3000]

Ugly Asian Male: On Being the Least Attractive Guy in the Room

Statistically, I’m the least attractive person in the dating scene. Alongside black women, the Asian-American male is considered the most ugly and undesirable person in the room.

Take it from Steve Harvey, who won’t eat what he can’t pronounce:

Eddie Huang, creator of the groundbreaking Asian-American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, responded to Steve Harvey in The New York Times:

“[Every] Asian-American man knows what the dominant culture has to say about us. We count good, we bow well, we are technologically proficient, we’re naturally subordinate, our male anatomy is the size of a thumb drive and we could never in a thousand millenniums be a threat to steal your girl.” 

Asian-American men, like me, know the score. That is, we don’t count at all.

Hollywood won’t bank on me. Think: When was the last time you saw an Asian male kiss a non-Asian female in a movie or TV show? Or when was the last time an Asian-American male was the desired person in a romantic comedy? And more specifically, when where they not Kung Fu practitioners or computer geniuses? I can only think of two examples: Steven Yeun as Glenn from The Walking Dead and John Cho as Harold from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. So it takes either a zombie apocalypse or the munchies to see a fully breathing Asian male lead, or a Photoshop campaign #StarringJohnCho for an Asian protagonist with actual thoughts in his head. 

It’s so rare to see a three-dimensional Asian male character, with actual hopes and dreams, that Steven Yeun remarks in GQ Magazine:

GQ Magazine: When you look back on your long tenure on The Walking Dead, what makes you proudest?

Steven Yeun: Honestly, the privilege that I had to play an Asian-American character that didn’t have to apologize at all for being Asian, or even acknowledge that he was Asian. Obviously, you’re going to address it. It’s real. It’s a thing. I am Asian, and Glenn is Asian. But I was very honored to be able to play somebody that showed multiple sides, and showed depth, and showed a way to relate to everyone. It was quite an honor, in that regard. This didn’t exist when I was a kid. I didn’t get to see Glenn. I didn’t get to see a fully formed Asian-American person on my television, where you could say, “That dude just belongs here.” Kids, growing up now, can see this show and see a face that they recognize. And go, “Oh my god. That’s my face too.”

Growing up, I never had that, either. I can’t help but think of this scene from the biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, in which Bruce Lee watches the controversial Asian stereotype played by Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s to a theater filled with derisive laughter. This moment with Bruce Lee is most likely fictional, but the weight of it is not lost on us:

This was a powerful moment for me as a kid, because I grew up with the same sort of mocking laughter, whether it was watching Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom with my white neighbors, or being assailed by the Bruce Lee wail in the local grocery store. I knew they were laughing at me, and not with.

“But hey wait!”—I’m told, with fervent knowing, “I know some Asian guys who are hot!” and I’m pointed to an infamous Buzzfeed list that shows “the hottest Asian men who will prove you wrong about Asian men,” with zero irony. Yes, I’ve seen the list. And yes, they’re like I expected: hard-rock glistening abs that are impossible for the working Asian dad, with classically European, chiseled faces and surgically-lifted eyes. More than that, it plays into the same creepy objectification of Asians as sexual play-toys.

Perhaps even worse than the portrayal of Asian men is how they’re not. More often, an acting role becomes “whitewashed” to suit a global audience, or an Anglo-American is the audience-avatar as a safety net for box office returns (remember, the last samurai in The Last Samurai was white). 

I know this is a shrill, ill-discussed subject with all kinds of variables, but from the prosthetic slanted eyes in Cloud Atlas to race-bleaching in Ghost in the Shell to the the “Yellow Peril” demonizing of Asian males as evil ninjas and drug dealers in Daredevil and Iron Fist, Asian-Americans—especially males, as females can still literally serve as co-stars—are vastly both mis- and under-represented. We’re used for a footnote joke at the Academy Awards (the same year that there was a campaign called #OscarsSoWhite), an overly loud insane person in raunchy comedies like The Hangover or Saving Silverman, or a “funny foreigners” punchline in the falsely interpreted romantic comedy, 500 Days of Summer.

One of the obvious reasons that Asian-Americans are sidelined in the mainstream is because there’s no money in it. It’s that simple. Freddie Wong, in his parody video of Ghost in the Shell casting Scarlett Johansson, says it best:

“Because, as a studio executive, the immorality of whitewashing a beloved work of Japanese culture is outweighed by my fear that audiences won’t want to watch a movie starring an Asian woman. And I don’t have the balls to take that risk. Besides, whatever political outrage this decision evokes doesn’t materially effect how much money I make.”

In other words, we’re stuck in a Catch-22. There can be no roles for an Asian-American unless it guarantees a profit, but since we’re not portrayed regularly in most media, there’s never a chance for Asian-American leads to draw a profit in the first place. I get the bottom line here, and I’m not so oblivious to consider that investors are all idealistic innovators. The creative risk is too daring. From an executive’s point of view, I can almost painfully understand.

So besides whitewashing an entirely Asian property, the next best thing is to throw in a scrap of representation by using the whole stereotype.  Make the Asian guy the smartest or the martial artist, and there’s your token diversity. It’s why major Hollywood blockbusters have now made shoehorned references to China: because they’re a huge source of box office revenue, and a pandering shout-out to China, no matter how forced or unoriginal, will mean more ticket sales. (It’s even going the other way, with Chinese movies like The Great Wall casting a white role to get more sales in America.)

Yet these roles have little nuance and only serve to further someone else’s plot. I’m the Manic Pixie Dream Girl and the Magical Negro, rolled into a non-threatening sidekick or the meditative Zen master. I will never be the action star or the romantic lead. God forbid that an Asian-American male would ever win against a non-Asian.

In some cases, Asians have capitalized on their own mockery by making fun of themselves in minstrel-like deprecation. I was surprised to find that the first winner of Last Comic Standing was a Vietnamese-American named Dat Phan, until I saw his routine, which went for the lowest hanging fruit possible. If you can’t beat the laughter, why not become the jester? Even other Asians want in on their own sabotage. 

Representation for the Asian-American only seems to happens when it aims for the least common denominator. The cheapest move, of course, is to completely hijack the “exotic quaintness” of Asian culture without going “fully Asian,” in order to boost a pseudo-masculinity. It’s easy: throw in Chinese tattoos or an Asian-type mysticism, and the non-Asian character instantly gains credibility. You can make up an Asian-sounding name, like “David Wong,” actual name Jason Pargin, a white author at Cracked.com, or Michael Derrick Hudson, a white poet who uses pen name “Yi-Fen Chou,” and watch the doors open. All the benefits, none of the fuss. Use my name without the actual struggle.

Of course, Asian-Americans are accused of allowing such undercover racism in the mainstream because we’re silent, passive, and obedient. We’re easy targets. We don’t typically march or cause disruption. We’re not socially involved. It’s why a huge clothing company like Abercrombie & Fitch can make shirts with Asian stereotypes like “Two Wongs Can Make It White.” It’s why Stephen Colbert (whom I love, by the way), can get away with non-apologies when he cracks yet another Asian joke. It’s why Ryo Oyamada, a 24 year old Japanese college student, can get run over by a police car in New York, and the officer goes free and no one chants in the streets.  

If you replaced the race with any other, the response would be louder, with solidarity on every side. Asian? No one cares. Literally and statistically, no one cares. Worst of all, it appears that Asians don’t care, either. It’s always a surprise when we speak up. You can drag an Asian-American off an airplane, and the most noise you’ll hear from other Asians is that they just don’t want to be seen as noisy and displeasing. 

The thing is, there are no shortage of Asian-American men who are physically and intellectually desirable, who could portray themselves as fully living beings with compelling stories and relatable conflicts. Is it possible that the mainstream, for all its talk about diversity, is afraid of encountering a man who is both Asian-American and attractive? Is it simply intolerable to witness an Asian-American switch lanes between the sidekick and the star? Has the Asian-American male been permanently imprinted as comic relief or Karate expert? Is it too culturally explosive to pair an Asian-American male with a non-Asian female? Can we really handle an Asian alpha male who gets the girl at the end? (Much less a non-Asian female lead get an Asian guy at the end?)

I have to admit that some of this is on us. No, I don’t mean that we brought it on ourselves. I would never, ever perpetuate blaming the victim. I mean that we can still fight against the pervasive, seemingly impermeable walls around the identity of the Asian male, by reaching and demanding for more challenging roles in every sphere of media. The shift in perception of the Asian-American male coincides with a shift in self-perception. 

Is it also possible to take a creative risk without guarantees? I know today’s market is less likely to pave new ground, with its risk-averse eye on sequels and reboots and recycling the same tale, but I wonder how we can tell new tales without resorting to the cheapest, easiest cliches, without exploiting Asian culture for “mystical credibility” but celebrating its uniqueness with a thoughtful exploration of both its treasures and its trials.  

I’ll leave you with a quote from Lewis Tan, the half-Asian-American actor who was rejected for the role of Iron Fist. In a recent interview, he says:

“I’ve turned down a couple roles. My agents will tell you when I first signed with them, I turned down the first three or four things that came up. I’ve just turned down roles that were super-stereotypically Asian that I didn’t feel represented me and I didn’t want to do. Not to necessarily say they’re bad roles, but it just wasn’t me. I’m not going to do this dorky Asian accent and just play someone in the background. That’s not why I’m here to act. I’m here to represent and to make stories that I believe in and to achieve new things in the industry.”