#most of the nitpicks i have with the show are clinging too much to movie iconography while making the story much softer and squishier

[starlit-mansion]

Listening to the beetlejuice cast recording again and i think it's funny how updating the maitlands from 80s affluent normie yuppies to 2010s neurotic hipsters with too many artisinal hobbies actually makes it feel more dated

[emile-hides]

Overwatch Horror Movies

Welcome to October -1st, where I remember to make a post about how each Overwatch character reacts to Horror Movies because it’s my passion.

If I call you out, tag yourself. That’s your government assigned kin.

Ana - Not her favorite Halloween activity, but she’ll watch them if the person she’s watching with is a screamer. She finds their fear more entertaining than the movie.

Ashe - Easily startled by jumpscares. A real Scream Queen. Her instinctual reaction is fists up. She’s knocked a few heads after getting startled.

Baptiste - Enjoys the cheesy, over the top with cliche horror movies. He’ll laugh though really anything but torture porn gorey garbage.

Bastion - Is baby, but doesn’t really have a sensor to understand the fear that he should be feeling. Gets PTSD flashbacks at too much gore and gunshot sounds.

Brigitte - Likes suspenseful movies that have a spooky atmosphere and a real story. She will punch a hole though the screen if she gets jumpscared.

D.Va - Laughs and says it’s just a movie and it’s such a dumb concept, but will become extra paranoid after Serial Killer/Slasher movies. She checks locks three times over, leaves all the lights on at night, and refuses to go anywhere after dark for about a week. However, horror games with the same premise have no effect on her.

Doomfist - Hates horror movies. Hates the choices protagonists in Horror movies make. Makes Talon agents write an essay on what to do if a serial killer is after you after seeing the dumb choices in Horror movies.

Echo - Don’t show her a movie with jumpscares! She will attempt to pull off scares of her own! While at first they’re jumping out from around corners, she’ll get better the more she does it. Brigitte will end up punching her.

Genji - Desensitized to gore and horror in general. Growing up around Spirit Dragons and then being trained by Spiritual Monks kind of ruin the whole scary ghosts thing for you.

Hanzo - Same as Genji on being desensitized to it all, but if a dog dies he will refuse to watch the rest of the movie.

Junkrat - Enjoys the gorey shit. The more horrid the better, he’ll probably laugh when someone gets their arm tore off. Easily freaked out by Zombie movies, though.

Lucio - Is Baby 2.0. An absolute coward, will spend 80% of the movie with his face buried in a pillow. Will need someone to share a room with a few nights afterwards.

McCree - Always found Ashe’s reaction to horror very funny, so he’d watch them with her. Discovering Gabriel Reyes had the same reactions was the best thing to ever happen in Blackwatch. Demon possession movies freak him out.

Mei - Is Baby the Third. Easily started, screams VERY loud. Spends the entire movie with her ears covered and eyes shut tight. Might cry.

Mercy - Being scared makes her angry. Something about the startle of a horror movie just pisses her off! She’ll jump and scream a little, then go into a rant on the movie’s horrid quality.

Moira - Finds her fellow veiwer’s reactions more interesting than the movie itself. Enjoys making snacks that fit the movie’s theme, and look uncomfortably like real fingers and eyeballs.

Orisa - Like Bastion, doesn’t fully understand what’s being scared is? She doesn’t like to watch them though, because she does not enjoy violence, and is worried Efi will see them. 

Pharah - Wasn’t allowed to watch any horror until she was 18, so she tried to make up for it all in one night, and immediately scarred herself. Violently refuses to watch anything scary ever again.

Reaper - He watches them for the aesthetic of it all, Halloween is his Holiday and he will partake in all Halloween related events, but he’s a coward. Ghost/Demon possession movies mess him up the worst.

Reinhardt - He’ll remind anyone who’s scared “It’s just a movie” and laugh. Get’s startled at a jumpscare, but nothing will actually stick with him. He’ll probably have something similar that happened to him to talk about after the movie though.

Roadhog - Doesn’t enjoy watching horror movies, especially gorey ones. Not because they scare him, but because he sees enough of that shit in his day to day life already.

Sigma - Does not react well to being scared. The existentialism of death and the eventual end horror movies promote can set him off on a tangent, and eventually lead to a break down.

Soldier 76 - Loved Slasher movies, found them thrilling. Nothing ever sticks with him after a movie, he’s very rational. He doesn’t believe in ghosts in the slightest.

Sombra - She doesn’t find any horror really all that great, it’s all very predictable. She might spend the entire movie nitpicking how boring it is.

Symmetra - Says she believes horror to be a waste of time. In reality as a kid she saw a few ending scenes of a really gorey horror movie that’s stuck with her ever sense.

Torbjorn - He’s seen enough real horrors, movies don’t effect him that much anymore. He never really pays attention to what’s on the TV anyway.

Tracer - Very, VERY easily startled. She blinks and recalls almost every jumpscare, and keeps her face covered during most scenes. Despite being a massive coward, Lena really enjoys scaring other people.

Windowmaker - As expected, not easily frightened. She finds a lot of horror to be exceedingly boring, and will probably fall asleep during the movie.

Winston - Easily swayed by movies. He clings onto others or a pillow when he’s scared, and will be on high alert the entire movie. Once it’s over though he can rationalize pretty easily, and move on.

Wrecking Ball - Gets really hyped over monster movies! If he’s watching alone, he’ll act out the scenes as they’re happening, especially as the monster.

Zarya - Not a fan of horror, but if her friends are watching them, she’ll join in. She’s typically the calming prescience for cowards to cling to and hide behind.

Zenyatta - Not his first choice, but he’ll watch with friends. If he gets too scared he’ll offer to refill snacks and drinks to give himself a moment away from the screen. He uses his Orb of Harmony to calm anyone frightened after the movie is over.

[ericdeggans]

How My Love for Sean Connery and Bond Led to a Serious Case of White Guy Hero Infatuation Syndrome

Like a lot of people all over the world, I have long considered myself a stone Sean Connery fan.

I often recited the juiciest dialogue bits from his Oscar-winning turn as a beat cop-turned crusader in he Untouchables (in addition to the speech everyone quotes, I loved how he told Eliot Ness he knew he was a treasury agent without seeing his badge because “who would claim to be that who was not?”) I watched the painfully clumsy 1986 B-movie Highlander mostly for his charming turn as Egyptian (!) immortal Juan Sánchez-Villalobos Ramírez.

And, of course his work as James Bond always set the ultimate example for urbane cool. Which explains why I often felt the theme song thrumming in my head whenever I wore a stylish suit or hopped off a plane in a cool city. For men from the generation before mine, he practically defined the sophisticated, stylish machismo found in the pages of Esquire and Playboy.  

For these reasons and more, I have always loved the rogueish Scotsman as an actor. And yet, when news of his death at age 90 spread across the world, I couldn’t bear to pay tribute to him on my social media pages, until now.

That’s because his passing highlighted my problem with a particular malady. I call it White Guy Hero Infatuation Syndrome. And I have suffered from it for many years.

Put simply, my fan’s brain knows that Connery’s landmark performances were the stuff of film legend – especially as Bond. Cool, authoritative, suavely menacing and mostly unflappable, his take on a secret agent who knows the best suit designers nearly as well as the best pistol manufacturers set the template for escapist espionage fantasies over the next half century and beyond.

His first line as the character – “Bond. James Bond.” – has become pop culture legend.

But as a media critic, I also have to contend with James Bond’s status as a relentless sexist and a British agent who walked the world as if it was made to be ruled by wealthy, capable white men. Watch him slap the behind of a pretty blonde who was massaging him poolside in 1964’s Goldfinger when CIA agent Felix Leiter turns up for a chat. “Man talk,” he tells her dismissively, sending her out of the scene.

Or check out how he treats Quarrel, the bug-eyed Black man who acts as a “fixer” for him in Jamaica during the first Bond film, 1962’s Dr. No. Scrambling across a beach to avoid the bad guys’ goons, Bond turns to Quarrel and tells him “fetch my shoes” -- as if he were his butler, rather than a local ally helping him avoid thugs with automatic weapons.

And there’s loads of scenes where Bond forces himself on women who quickly succumb to his charms – like Honor Blackman’s character in 1964′s Goldfinger – perpetuating a dangerous myth that a man can earn a woman’s love by pushing her into being romantic with him. (Or that a dismissive, vaguely annoyed tone with women – treating them like impertinent children or misguided simpletons – is also, somehow, irresistible to them.)    

When Connery played Bond, he played a character who was the embodiment of white privilege. He made it look sexy, virtuous and necessary – the natural state of things in a 1960s-era world that, outside the comfortable confines of Bond’s make-believe spy games, seemed to be coming apart at the seams. But in the America of 2020, it’s a symbol of how media can teach you to accept a limiting legend.

And this was a fantasy I bought into eagerly. As a kid, my mom and I bonded over the heroic white guys she loved on film and TV, mostly from westerns. Just this past December, as she was fighting cancer and months before she would succumb to an infection, we sat and watched Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, Kevin Costner and Robert Duvall save the day too many times to count.

As I got older, I’d make fun of all the misogyny, racism and white centering going on in these shows – gibes which my mother, a proud Black woman who loved her people and culture, tolerated with a weary smile. “These are my guys,” she’d say playfully, swatting aside any idea that there was a deeper impact from gorging on stories which treated these virtuous white men as the noble, natural center of every story. I wish the issue were that simple; it often isn’t.

For me, it wasn’t just a problem with Connery. As a kid, I loved Eastwood’s 1970s-era Dirty Harry movies, where the taciturn cop with a Magnum pistol cut through all the nonsense to nab the bad guy. Same with Bronson’s Death Wish films, where the solution to rampant street crime wasn’t better policing, but a taciturn, middle class white guy with a gun shooting down street criminals. It’s a potent fantasy, especially if you’ve ever had to deal with the numbing bureaucracy of real-life law enforcement or the brutal violation of being a crime victim.

It wasn’t until I got older that I realized many of those bad guys Harry Callahan was hunting were young hippies and Black people – the kind of folks who, in real life when Dirty Harry was released in 1971, were trying to get America to face how it was chewing up poor, young men in an unwinnable, unnecessary war in Vietnam. It was a prime example of “copaganda” – convincing the audience that the excesses Detective Callahan committed to nail a person the audience already knew was a serial killer, was justified.

Even now, I wonder: Can I watch these movies and appreciate why they are thrilling, while rejecting the tropes that present a white male-centered world as just and appropriate? In my work on race and media, I’m often telling audiences that people who insist they are not affected by media subtexts are often the most affected by them. Couldn’t that be true for me, when it comes to heroes like Eastwood, Bronson and Connery?

(One caveat: Sitting in an arena in Tampa, watching Eastwood give his infamously strange “empty chair” speech at the Republican National Convention in 2012, broke me of my affection for his work. I have avoided watching new Clint Eastwood films since then. Click here to read my report on the empty chair speech for the Tampa Bay Times.)

In his later years, Connery denied or walked back quotes where he seemed to approve of physically hitting women in real life. His roles in films like Highlander, The Untouchables, Hunt for Red October, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen often featured him playing the older mentor to younger white guy heroes portrayed by the likes of Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin and Kevin Costner.

And so, as the question of Connery’s legacy in show business arises, the fanboy part of me is at war with the media critic. One side of me is lost in the absolute coolness of the suave masculinity he so often symbolized, particularly as the world’s most successful secret agent.

The other is painfully aware of the inequalities and oppression such portrayals enabled, and how much they may feed our real life fantasies for a powerful white male savior to set things right, even now. 

Especially now.

And saying these characters were a product of their flawed times somehow doesn’t seem enough.

This is a tough column to write, and not just because there are so many fans who want to focus on the best moments of Sean Connery’s life now that he’s gone. It’s difficult because he was a personal hero of mine for a long while – and remains one of my favorite performers – even as I acknowledge the terribly male-centric and white-superior ethos he embodied in so many roles.

This may sound like disrespectful nitpicking to hardcore fans and family. It’s never easy to sit with the more uncomfortable aspects of a great artist’s legacy. And the time after his death has been filled with heartfelt tributes to Connery, a man of great talent and no-nonsense sensibilities who was respected and loved by a great many people who worked with him.

Sometimes the media critic’s job requires being a buzzkill; insisting the public pay attention to troubling aspects of a film or TV show that we would all just rather sit back and enjoy. Because part of unwinding the effect of past portrayals is acknowledging their power in the present day.

Which means, every time I watch Connery stride to a baccarat table in Goldfinger, Dr. No, or Diamonds Are Forever, archly demanding a precisely constructed alcoholic beverage, I also have to remind myself of the damage done by too many characters like that offering too constricted a vision of what a hero looks and acts like. And I suggest you do the same.

It's the only way to balance a comforting myth with the reality of how that legend can, unwittingly, teach us to cling to ideas that ultimately hold us back.      

[caeows]

      jeon jeongguk  .  cis male  .  he/him  ／  graeme bae just pulled up by blasting dirty little secret by all american rejects --- that song is so them  !  you know  ,  for a twenty three year old actor  ,  i’ve heard they’re really gullible  ,  but that they make up for it by being so tenacious  .  if i had to choose three things to describe them  ,  i’d probably say tousled hair  ,  triple dog dares and a closet full of black  .  here’s to hoping they don’t cause too much trouble  !  

hello  !  i’m deni  (  she/her pronouns  ,  gmt+9 timezone  )  .  i’m best reached on discord at gayfairy#6371 for plotting  .  below the cut is  ...  a ridiculous amount of keyboard smashing but it was a holiday and i was feeling inspired so  !!  i included a few TLDRs for some quick scanning  .  there’s also some plots at the bottom i’d LOVE to see  .    looking forward to writing with you all  !

* ☆ ·˚  background.

you could say he was destined for the spotlight  .  

      an only child  ,  he grew up watching his parents performances on the stage  ,  accepting their kisses and gentle smiles before they set off for tours around the country and left him with his cousins  .  sure  ,  they were absent --- but they tried  --- and graeme knew he wanted to be just like them  .  when his parents delighted in his little home-staged sets he presented ,  they quickly enrolled him in acting classes and coached him through first auditions  ,  even moved back to korea when it was clear some american roles wanted to confine him to one note  .  after gaining exposure  ,  graeme shared the screen with one of the biggest names in the american industry in a dramatic hit that led to some ridiculous fanmail being sent to him as a kid  ,  then excitedly landed a role in a revamped science fiction film he was stoked af abouy !!! unfortunately  ,  the film was met with an absolute brutal blowback from fans  ,  some of that hot  ,  petty anger taken out on graeme  ,  and at thirteen years old  ,  his parents made the decision for him to step back and focus on school  .   (  he still holds onto those spiteful letters------  all that hate from grown ass adults thrown at a child  ) 

      performing arts high school  ,  but graeme stayed away from the public stage for a bit  .  worked on some sets as a tech to get a better idea of the film making process  .  kept a low profile occasionally caught by curious paparazzi at a basketball court or baseball game  .  recognizable  ,  but not to the point where he couldn’t be seminormal  .  there were a few bumps in the road  ::  leaked photos of a beer at a high school party  ,  couple of fake friends sliding in for clout  ,  people pushing questions like when are you returning  ??  how does it feel to ruin one of the most important films of all time ???  shitty  .  but  ,  with the help of his parents  ,  friends and coaches  ,  graeme returned to student films to grow more comfortable in front of a camera  .  his official comeback was in the background of a friend's directorial debut  ,  a lady-love drama critics salivated over but failed to earn is’ nominations  .  still  ,  graeme’s name was back and out there  .  jumping headfirst into the thing that scares him  ,  graeme’s slated for teen flicks  ,  romantic dramas  ,  action films  .  a diverse portfolio  .  people love a comeback  .     ------as if there was something wrong with what he did before  .  

TLDR.  former international child star who took a break after experiencing a massive fan-driven backlash  .  pseudo retired  ,  did the performing arts school thing  .  popped back on the screen about a year ago and working his ass off since  .  early career inspiration : jake lloyd  ,  natalie portman  , yeo jingoo

* ☆ ·˚  current.

      suddenly  getting all this praise and earning cash  ,  living on his own in a sprawling city of work and sin  .   hasn’t stop busting his ass  ,  no  ,  but maybe he’s found outlets for all his stress in  . . . less than healthy outlets  .  some of the headlines are way off the mark  ,  some a little too close to home  .  either way  ,  it’s not something his parents or his management company are thrilled about  (  doesn’t he want to be taken seriously as an actor ,  they say  )  and he does  .  of course he does  .  but what else does he have to sacrifice to be taken seriously ?  and how serious does any twenty-something year old wanna get  ?

      late hours on dance floors  ,  strips of things he doesn’t know the name of on his tongue  ,  lips on any pretty   ,  wanting pair he can find  .  he’s young  ,  virile and at the top of his game  .  who can blame him  ?  it starts with a string of tabloid images  ,  a rumpled and sleepy-eyed graeme leaving apartments that aren’t his in clothes he was spotted in the night before  .  zoomed-in  ,  fan-cropped photos on twitter of hickeys and swollen mouths and unbuttoned shirts  .  america’s sweetheart  ?  maybe  ,  but clearly not around the clock  .  him  ,  scaling rails of hotels and dancing on top of cars  .  grabbing mics at clubs and taking over DJ boots at parties   .  twitter explodes when he moonwalks through the airport one time and baristas trend his insane coffee orders  .  

      and even though he’s got his own name --- and a variety of different spellings  ,  hashtags  ,  and whatevers --- blacklisted on social media  ,  every now and then he’ll run along a stream of grueling comments  ,  petty nitpicks about his performances  ,  his looks  ,  his voice  ,  his goddamn smile and it’s-----   it’s rough  ,  even for someone who grew up in that environment  .  there’s days where he’ll hole up in his apartment and refuse to see anyone  ,  refuse to leave  .  the guy in the interviews with the wide smile and sparkle eyes is so  ,  so far away and people almost forget that he’s human  ,  too  .  he pushes himself out of that mindset  ,  sometimes with help  ,  but it’s always a shadow on his back  ,  waiting to catch him at his weakest  .  

TLDR.  tabloids gossip about speculated hookups and strange behavior  .  potential alcohol abuse  .  pushback from management and parents  .  anxiety towards social media  .  current career inspiration : ansel elgort

* ☆ ·˚  tidbits.

      sporty as fuck —— basketball  ,  soccer  ,  skateboard  ,  swimming  ,  climbing  .  says he would’ve been an athlete if not for movies  .  fit as fuck despite a steady diet of ramen and pizza  .  claims to like horror movies the most  ,  but he’s a total schmaltz snob  .  can hold a pretty tune well enough to pass  .  has a private twitter account for the memes   ,  public accounts are all operated by a social media manager so he doesn’t have to read comments   .  watches college basketball championships religiously  .  has very strong opinions about scented candles  .  likes sugary drinks more than coffee but claims to be a connoisseur  .  loves biopics  .  punk and 2000s emo rock fan .  gets anxious easily  ,  suffers through interviews and avoids personal topics as best as he can  .  is rumored to be difficult to work with  ,  but keeps to himself on sets save for a few opinions about blocking  and lighting  .  pan as fuck and fairly open about it  .  mom and dad are chill  ,  but don’t understand much of anything past bi  .  they get on to him more for his diet and job  .   when not on the court or working  ,  spends free time rewatching anime in the safety of his bed in an threadbare pair of boxers  ,  eating Doritos by the fistful and leaving his manager on read  .

      even his underwear is black  .  occasionally, he’ll change it up with a screen printed vintage t-shirt and wears whatever kind of fancy thing his stylist squeezes him into  .  otherwise wears by a black or white t-shirt  ,  black pants and combat boots  .  seventy percent of his sneakers have sharpie drawings on them and he’s got a lot of holes in his ears and another in a place you’d be lucky  (  or unlucky  )  to see  .  loves dangy earrings and wearing his hair loose  ,  a bit long with a mild perm  .  silver on his wrists and friendship bracelets from yesteryear but no rings  .  tattooed up  !  recently collaborated to design a line of temporary tattoos  .  extensive collection of sunglasses  .  hit up a lot of music festivals in the past but that’s died down in recent months due to a busy schedule  .  swung his way into VIP passes before  .  he was a total Warped kid in the past  ,  no shame  .  no longer does fan conventions because of a negative experience a few years back  ,  and even fan meets are a little awkward  ,  but he manages to push through  .  can’t drive worth a damn but he’ll kick your ass at any arcade game  .  occasionally  ,  he’ll stream over twitch but that’s becoming less and less common  . was banned from several dave & busters before he made it back on the screen  .  moody as fuck  .

* ☆ ·˚  plots.

      so  .  bonds  .  there’s a best friend who may not have been there since the beginning  ,  but they’ve been there when it matters  .  the friendship is new  ,  fresh  ,  and maybe graeme shouldn’t be as dependent on it as he is  ,  but he can’t help it  .  clinging to them like crazy --- let’s hope it doesn’t fall to the wayside  .  (  ? / 1  )  there’s several of his idiot friends who  ,  after being stranded on too many red carpets  ,  a hundred hotel rooms  ,  and hours of press junkets  ,  have learned to survive by snapchatting each other random dares throughout the day  .  (  1 / unlimited  )  there’s a few childhood friends who  ,  like him  ,  grew up either in or close to the spotlight and they have this  ,  like  . . .  support group kind of situation  .  i don’t know  .  graeme checks on them from time to time  ,  even as they’ve grown apart  .  (   2 / unlimited  )  he’s got some partying buddies who may not have his best interest at heart --- who may or may not stop him when he’s slurred out and whining about twitter trolls .  some gaming partners he teams up with over stream  ,  but lately they’ve drifted apart  .

      it’s such a cliche that his management’s set him up for a fake dating situation  .  if graeme wants the dramatic  ,  serious roles  ,  then he needs to show he’s a mature and capable young man  .  how else to do that than jump headfirst into a few awkwardly orchestrated dates with another hotshot on the radar  ?  (  ? / 1  )  but they’re not serious  .  so  ,  he hasn’t stopped hooking up  ,  or thinking about a one night stand that totally rocked his world  .   (  ? / 5 )  and  (  ? / 1 )  media and fans definitely know about a few of these  .  the jury’s out for how they feel about it  .  then there’s his competition  ,  actors in the same demographic targeting the same roles  .  it’s a tough business and they know it  ,  but the press picks up on all these weird quotes and posts that twist shit into beefs  .  what other misunderstanding will cause the casket to blow  ?  (  ? / unlimited )  there’s some co stars on old and upcoming films  .  people who see how hard he works and how much effort he puts into what’s seen on the screen  .  they tough out hard days on set and the press circuits during promotion  .  see him at his worst and best  .  (  ? / unlimited )

[sophfandoms53]

Endgame Talk

This little discussion is gonna have massive spoilers for Avengers Endgame. This is your warning if you have not seen the movie. If you haven’t seen it, just scroll all the way down as fast you can. If you have seen it or you don’t care about spoilers, then welcome! As for the rest of you, you have been warned.

Okay so. I know we’ve all got our own opinions on Endgame, the way the plot works, the way certain characters were treated, and especially with its ending.

I’ve read a lot of reviews and reactions about Endgame the past few days and in all honesty. There isn’t much I disagree with. A lot of the critiques given to the film are valid critiques. Some are just nitpicks that don’t really matter. But over all, the criticism is pretty fair.

In regards to the time travel, I barely understood how it worked in the film. All I know is that it worked and everyone came back. All I needa know lmao. I didnt understand time travel in back to the future, I didnt understand it in gravity falls, I didnt understand it in TMNT, I didnt understand it in Power Rangers, and I don’t understand it during this movie.

Time travel is a very difficult thing to figure out with story telling as every move made has its consequences. Which is why when I see people saying “The time travel in this movie created plot holes.” It makes me laugh because uh duh it’s time travel, of course it creates plot holes. We have yet to see any creator or writer do time travel and not have it cause plot holes or confusion. This doesn’t excuse said plot holes but it clears up that Endgame isn’t the first victim of the trouble time travel has on its story.

Okay let’s talk about Tony and Steve’s endings.

Oh boy.

I’ll start with Steve because right now I ain’t ready to talk about Tony.

Steve went back in time to put the infinity stones in their proper places before the team originally went back to bring everyone back and he was suppose to come right back to the present (or future in their case) but he doesn’t. Instead he stays in the 70’s (which is when he and tony got the Tesseract) and forms a relationship with Peggy and when we see him again in present (future) time he’s the age he would be if he was never frozen back in the 40’s.

Now, while I do agree this causes a lot of confusion in regards to events in Civil War and such but. That’s our timeline. What happened with Steve staying back in the 70’s was that he created an alternate time line where, all the events we all saw still exist, but he was able to live a happy marriage with Peggy. Or at least that’s how I saw it honestly. Steve staying in the 70’s didn’t change or alter anything in the main timeline. We know this because we saw that nothing changed.

Also. Steve never belonged in this time period anyway. In The First Avenger, Steve is fighting in WW2 and it’s a soldier. He was meant to be in the 40’s but he made a sacrifice that caused him to wake up in modern day. And while Steve did a lot as Captain America, that doesn’t change that this isn’t where he belongs. He watched as everyone in his past was either changed (Bucky being mind controlled) or lost (Watching Peggy die). Steve’s entire past kept coming back to haunt him. Which is why he took the opportunity to stay in the 70’s with Peggy. To give himself a happy ending. This was something foreshadowed throughout the film as well.

Now. Lets talk about the big one.

Tony Stark.

Firstly.

UM OW????? MARVEL YOU LEGIT RIPPED MY HEART OUT FROM MY CHEST AND STEPPED ON IT AND THREW IT IN THE STREET TO GET RUN OVER BY A CAR! HOLY SHIT THAT HURT. AND LIL BABY PETER PARKER CLINGING TO TONY DIDNT HELP NONE. GAH MY HEARTT. IM STILL CRYING OVER THIS

Okay. Now that that’s out. Lets talk Tony Stark.

Imma be real. The minute Morgan Stark (whom is adorable and needs absolute protection) popped out of the tent, I knew Tony’s fate. I had a huge feeling Tony wasn’t gonna make it out. And it hurt that I was right.

However, as much as it hurt to see Tony die, to see him make the last sacrifice, it makes sense both for story telling and within Tony’s arc as a character.

We’ve watched Tony grow from an arrogant man who didn’t really care for the world around him but his industry, to someone who wants what’s best for his family, who became a mentor of a young kid with a lot of potential to the point that only Tony really believed in him and who wants to protect the world.

We saw Tony go through this arc from beginning to end.

Tony’s never had it easy in his life. He lost a lot, he fought a lot, and he stressed a lot. Tony, throughout these films, has never had a proper time to relax and appreciate what he has because he was always fighting to protect himself, the ones he loves and the world. It got to the point in Iron Man 3 that Tony began losing sleep and could not rest because of all the torment he has been through.

Keep in mind Iron Man 3 takes place The Avengers and what happened in Avengers? Loki and a huge attack on New York that only they could stop. And who sent Loki on this attack?

Thanos.

It always comes back to Thanos.

Joe Rousso confirmed back during Infinity War that Thanos and Tony have connection.

In the sense of story telling, Thanos acts as a foil to Tony.

In an interview, one of the Rousso’s said:

“It’s all the heroes. I think he has the most specific connection to Tony because Tony is a futurist, and he has predicted a threat like Thanos. It’s lived in his brain even though he couldn’t name it. Tony is the most desperately driven, down to the core, to react against something like Thanos, although all the heroes will face a threat, no matter who it is or where it comes from. But I think this is intrinsic to Tony’s psychology, and because Tony started it all with Iron Man, he has a special connection to the threat that’s facing him."

Despite not meeting until Infinity War, Thanos and Tony have always had a connection. Thanos was the one that kept Tony restless. The reason he stressed everyday. Thanos was the reason Tony has to witness the loss of all his allies and surrogate son.

It’s all been Thanos.

The reason I call Thanos Tony’s foil is because of this connection.

Thanos and Tony have similar goals. They both believe what they’re doing is the greater good for the world. There’s a connection between them because of how they both think and operate. It’s why Thanos tells Tony he has respect for him in Infinity War. Thanos understands Tony’s view. And because he understands, Thanos serves to show Tony, and the audience what Tony would’ve become had he not grown and became obsessed with “balance” instead of the greater good.

In doing so, Thanos couldn’t live in a world without Tony and Tony couldn’t live in a world without Thanos.

Now I know some of you are probably like, “But Tony did live in a world without Thanos. He spent 5 years without Thanos around.”

and you’re right.

Technically, you’re right.

However.

Even within those 5 years, Tony was still haunted by what Thanos did. How Thanos won and that they lost. We saw throughout Endgame that Tony never forgave himself for what happened and especially for what happened to Peter.

Despite Thanos being dead, Tony is still haunted at the memory of Thanos and all the damage he created.

Hence why Peter was Tony’s main motivation throughout the film. When the team attempts to ask Tony for help regarding time travel, Tony declines as he says his too risky and because he doesn’t want to lose what he has now. Which is Pepper and Morgan.

His wife and daughter mean more to Tony than anything. We’ve seen Tony’s love for Pepper grow and we saw how much Tony loves his daughter. I love you 3000!

He got 5 happy years with them. Tony had his happy ending for as long as he could. Until once again, Thanos’ actions came back to haunt him. Seeing, remembering, that Peter was one of the people that were lost during Infinity War, the kid Tony grew to love as a son, and looked over and mentoured, Tony never stopped working on trying to bring Peter back. Without Peter, Tony felt like he failed.

At the end of the day Tony wasn’t worried about himself, he wanted Peter safe and sound. He wanted the world to be saved.

Tony needed closure. He needed to know the evil that haunted him for years was gone. He needed to know that his family and friends were safe. He needed to know that he fought until his end. And he did just that.

Tony Stark never ever stopped fighting. Ever.

Which is why Tony makes the ultimate sacrifice.

Using the stones and losing his own life.

Yes it hurt. A lot. It affected us and the characters in the film. But that’s how Tony’s arc was suppose to end.

It’s why Pepper said, “You can rest now.”

Tony fought Thanos non-stop for years and years on end. He never thought he could be at peace. But when he saw all his loved ones around for him, especially Pepper, his loving wife and Peter, the boy he risked everything for, and that they were officially safe and the monster that haunted him could no longer harm his family. He go be at peace.

He could pass on peacefully.

Tony Stark learned to love. Learned to care. Learned to grow. Learned that you’re not always alone.

Tony Stark learned all that he needed to in order make the final sacrifice in order to kill Thanos.

Tony Stark put the world’s protection before his own life.

Tony Stark is the true super hero.

His final words,

“And I... Am Iron Man.”

Were that for a reason, not just as a call back to he ending of the first film.

Those were his final words because Iron Man is not Tony Stark.

Tony Stark is Iron Man.

Tony Stark is the hero.

It’s the lesson Tony taught Peter with the phrase, “If you’re nothing without this suit than you shouldn’t have it.”

It’s not the suit that makes the superhero, but the person who wears it.

Tony Stark wears the Iron Man armor.

Tony Stark is the hero, not Iron Man.

Tony Stark’s arc has concluded.

There is no denying the pain and tears that were felt and shed during Tony’s death. But it was his time to go.

It was Tony’s time to rest.

Tony Stark fought and lived hard.

Tony Stark died happy, at peace and as a hero.

~We love you 3000 Tony~

Thanks for reading this far if you did. This is just my take on the film. Don’t take it as fact alright. What did you guys think of Endgame?

[claudia1829things]

"STAR TREK DISCOVERY" Commentary: (2.01) "Brother"

Earlier, I had posted two articles on my feelings about the Season Two premiere of “STAR TREK DISCOVERY”, (2.01) “Brother”.  The following is an amalgamation and extension of those two articles:

"STAR TREK DISCOVERY" COMMENTARY: (2.01) "Brother" I just recently viewed the Season Two premiere of “STAR TREK DISCOVERY”, (2.01) “Brother” on CBS All Access. On one hand, the episode struck me as a solid entry for a Trek show that set up the second season’s story arc and introduction of new characters. This is nothing knew. I have witnessed similar set ups for shows like “BABYLON 5” and “BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER”. But what I did not count on were some differences and characters that would leave me scratching my head. I do not think I have ever encountered a Trek show that has generated so much conflict and controversy as “STAR TREK DISCOVERY”. I take that back. There has been one other series that has generated controversy close to the same level as “DISCOVERY” . . . namely “STAR TREK VOYAGER”. This does not strike me as surprising, since both shows featured leading characters who are women. “DISCOVERY” took it to another level in which its leading character, Commander (formerly Specialist) Michael Burnham, is not only portrayed by an African-American actress, but is not the starship/space station’s commanding officer. I noticed that a great deal of what struck me as vague and nitpicking complaints had been inflicted upon “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” during and after its first season. One of those complaints proved to be that certain characters, including Michael Burnham, lacked full development by the end of Season One. I found myself scratching my head over this complaint. I mean … what on earth? I have never heard of a fictional character in a television show that is fully developed by the end of its first season, let alone before the end of its run. Never. And “DISCOVERY” had only finished its first season. Why on earth were so many of the franchise’s fans either criticizing that most of its characters are not fully developed or demanding that they should be after one season? This is not miniseries or television show. If “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” is allowed to complete its full run and the characters are still “not fully developed”, then I believe they would have something to complain about. Another complaint that left me scratching my head was the lack of humor during its first season. In fact, this particular complaint has led many to compare “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” with another science-fiction series that had begun around the same time - “THE ORVILLE”. The Trek franchise has never been a franchise that was dominated by humor. And I do recall a good deal of humor in Season One of “STAR TREK DISCOVERY”, especially in episodes like (1.07) “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” or in scenes featuring Mary Wiseman as Cadet Sylvia Tilly. Aside from those scenes featuring Wiseman and even Rainn Wilson (as con man Harry Mudd), most of the humor featured in Season One tend to be more subtle. I am relieved to notice that in regard to character development, the show runners for “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” did not rush to portray Michael Burnham or any of the other characters fully developed. The Season Two premiere, “Brother”, hinted that the show planned to explore Burnham’s past experiences as a member of Ambassador Sarek’s household and especially, her relationship with adoptive brother Spock. Judging from the Season Two previews I have seen, Burnham’s relationship with Ash Tyler/Voq will also be touched upon. So, if Season Two does not feature the full character development of the series’ leading lady and the other supporting characters, I will not be disappointed. If anything, I might feel a sense of relief. The last thing I want is for the series to engage in rushed storytelling. But one aspect of the Season Two premiere that left me scratching my head was the level of humor featured in the episode. It almost struck me as out of place. Now, “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” featured some rather heavy humor. I found nothing wrong with this. Many of the Trek series have aired the occasional humorous episode. The problem with the humor in “Brother” is that there was nothing about the plot or the characters that should have marked it as a humor-filled episode. Many of the familiar characters - including Burnham - were either spouting lines or reacting to situations that made me wonder if screenwriters Ted Sullivan, Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts may have went a bit too far. “Brother” also featured the introduction of Commander Denise “Jett” Reno, Chief Engineer of the U.S.S. Hiawatha, who had been rescued by a landing party from the Discovery after spending ten months caring for wounded crew members on an asteroid, during the Federation-Klingon War. Reno, portrayed by actress-comedian Tig Notaro, managed to spout more jokes in a space of five minutes than any other actor or actress who had appeared in a Trek series or movie. I think Notaro might proved to be a rival for Wiseman on who can be the funniest member of the cast. In the end, the humor in “Brother” struck me as a bit over-the-top, especially for an episode that is not obviously a humorous one like “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”. So what were the screenwriters thinking? Did they change the tonal style of “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” to appease those fans who had complained that the series was “too serious” or “too angsty”? If so, they have made a mistake. I found this tonal shift for Season Two rather forced and mind boggling. I do not see the necessity of changing the series’ tonal style. I want to watch “STAR TREK DISCOVERY”, not some borderline copycat of “THE ORVILLE”. Not even the other Trek series from the past had such a drastic tonal shift. After all, the edgier style of Season One did not prevent “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” from being a hit or creating an entire new stable of fans. Had the show runners forgotten this? Or were they too busy paying attention to the narrow-minded fans who wanted the series to simply re-create the past? I noticed that the introduction of Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike of the U.S.S. Enterprise had also contributed to this tonal shift. Mount’s Pike came off as slightly humorous and yet, somewhat bland. To me, Pike seemed like the epitome of the white male leading man that so many science-fiction/fantasy geeks seemed to long - especially in the past three to four years. The problem I have with this is that as an old fan of the AMC series, “HELL ON WHEELS”, I know that the talented Mount is capable of portraying a character more interesting than Pike. At one point in “Brother”, Pike had expressed his regret that the Enterprise did not participate in the Federation-Klingon War. Was this regret a consequence of survivor’s guilt? Or is this nothing more than the regret of someone in the military, who wished he or she could have been in the center of the action. I hope that it is the former. On the other hand, watching Pike participate in the landing party that found Reno and the remains of the Hiawatha makes me wonder otherwise. As the Discovery’s current temporary captain, his presence in the Away team struck me as questionable. This is not “STAR TREK” circa 1966-68. And so far, I do not find the character’s regret for not participating in the war against the Klingons as not very interesting. And why is the Christopher Pike character a regular on this show? Why is he a regular for Season Two? Why was Pike, along with two Enterprise officers, needed to investigate those seven red bursts that had appeared in the Alpha Quadrant? The Discovery is originally a science vessel. The Enterprise is not. Why did the show runners have Starfleet order Pike to take command of Discovery in the first place? Mount could have been cast as the Discovery’s new captain who was someone other than Pike. Or Saru could have been promoted as the Discovery’s new commander. He deserved it. After all, ever since the discovery that Captain Gabriel Lorca was an imposter from the Mirror Universe, Saru had more or less acted as the ship’s captain. He was the one who led Discovery and its crew out of the Mirror Universe. And he stood behind Burnham, Tilly and Tyler when they exposed Starfleet’s plot to destroy the Klingon homeworld. Instead, either Alex Kurtzman or Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg drummed up some lame reason to brng Pike aboard the Discovery so that the show can have some slightly bland and familiar character as the main authority figure in order to soothe the nerves of some very loud and negative fans. Is it possible that these fans could not deal with the chaotic Gabriel Lorca as captain or who still cannot deal with the non-white Michael Burnham as the show’s lead? Or do they simply want to recapture the past? Right now, it seems as if Kurtzman, Harberts and Berg want to please these fanboys, who want the show to recapture the past. After watching “Brother”, I blame them for listening to these fanboys, instead of basking in the success of Season One and moving forward with more innovative stories. It just seems a crime that producers like Kurtzman, Harberts, Berg, the Warner Brothers suits and Kathleen Kennedy are so afraid of the loud and narrow-minded fanboys that they would rather keep their respective franchises either mired in the past or borderline bland to please these fans. And in doing so, they end up ignoring the fact that when their franchises were innovative, they were also box office or ratings successes. Right now, I find the Trek fandom, along with those for other franchises, rather frustrating and narrow-minded. These fans would rather cling to the past, rather than enjoy something different or innovative. And when producers and show runners like Harberts, Berg or Kurtzman kowtow to the loud and rather conservative-minded fans and critics, entertainment and art in pop culture becomes in danger of declining into a sad affair. Does this mean that Season Two of “STAR TREK DISCOVERY” await such a fate? I hope not. I hope that the season’s future episodes might prove to be just as fascinating and innovative as those from Season One. I hope so. Because if I have to be honest, I found “Brother” to be jarring and something of a head scratcher.

[cartoonloverstuff]

How about cute things Meema does in a relationship?

You mean my sweet, precious, angel of an elephant? Not really the kind of headcanons I was offering but why not! I love talking about my giant, beautiful baby!:-Meena doesn’t have too much experience dating. She might have gone on one or two dates during high school, but never been in a proper relationship. She would have no idea how to be a girlfriend, but still be trying her best.-If there’s any excuse for her to bake something for S.O., she’ll use it. Birthday? Good addition? Didn’t cry while getting a flu? Congratulations, you get cake!-if S.O. ever get sick, Meena becomes like a doting mother hen. She’ll show up with medicine, food, and warm blankets and stay to taking care of S.O. as long as she deems necessary.-Meena may try to hide behind S.O. during social interactions with anyone she finds mildly intimidating. This is true regardless of S.O.’s size.-S.O. Also doubles as Meena’s protection from scary movies and haunted houses. Again, regardless of size, she will cling to S.O..-Is definitely a cuddle bug.-Will sing for S.O., but must asked/convinced to do so. She too shy to start singing for someone on her own.-Side note, it does not matter if S.O. is the most perfect being ever, Meena’s grandfather will watch S.O. like a hawk. Her whole family is a force to be trifled with, but S.O. has a good chance of getting on her mother’s and grandmother’s good side. Her Grandfather, though, will find anything about the S.O. to nitpick.—This was fun, sorry it’s so short! And, if anyone wants to add anything, feel free!