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jjyusmile · 4 years ago

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the boyz as european university students

notes: for european deobis! this is my imagination running wild with the help of @haechansbeas <33 not sure if anyone has done this before... just a little fun for everyone hehe :’)

warnings: mention of food and drink, mention of loneliness

sangyeon

- graduated from the university of barcelona and moved to the uk last year

- he is currently doing a phd in international politics at the univeristy of exeter

- he plans to move to geneva in switzerland eventually and become a south korean ambassador for the united nations

- he spends his weekends alone most of the time, taking long hikes and listening to music

- often goes clubbing and teaches his juniors the meringue dance after a few too many rum and cokes

jacob

- studies music technology at the university of toronto but is doing a year abroad at the norwegian academy of music

- allowed to take any electives he wants.. he chose lyrical spanish and dance theory

- misses his friends and dogs a lot -- plans to go home for christmas just to cuddle his brother and his dog

- time distance sucks what is the point

- but he is very much used to the cold weather

- at graduation, he is on track to win most caffeinated and most likely to star in a disney remake

younghoon

- his family moved to moscow when he was twelve just so he could get into the russian institute of theatre arts for drama

- has two dogs named kyung and woo

- plans to find a job in moscow after he graduates but wouldn’t mind going interrailing first before settling down

- wants to visit his friend juyeon so that he has a place to stay for edinburgh fringe festival

- aspires to star in his first korean drama as the male lead but will take any role he can get first

hyunjae

- he flew to milan to study musical theatre with aspirations of moving to new york and starring in a one man off-broadway show

- loves to be on stage but hated the theory work so he eventually dropped out

- fell in love and moved with them to a single bedroom in london, it didn’t work out

- now works as the assistant manager of a boba cafe by the london palladium and gets discounted theatre tickets through an usher he met during the chitty chitty bang bang run

- wears suits and carries around his badge to show his authority

- will probably move back to korea soon and audition to become an idol

juyeon

- moved to scotland when he was 16 to live with his mum’s best friend, now attends the university of edinburgh

- lives in a studio apartment that has a clear view of arthur’s seat on a sunny day out of his tiny window... gets a little lonely sometimes so he meal preps a lot

- studies classical literature and doing a dissertation on toxic masculinity in the epics of homer

- spends his time in clutter filled bookstores trying to find obscure novels

- has read war and peace so many times that the binding on his copy is unthreading

- no space for a book shelf but cannot push his desk chair under his desk because thats where he stores his collection

kevin

- he and changmin decided to move to paris together to venture the city of art… oh and love

- attends the university of paris to study child psychology with a minor in graphic art

- sits on his not-so-spacious balcony each morning with a cup of coffee and sketch book looking out onto the concorde waiting for his roommate to wake up

- sells his design prints on etsy under the username m0onscribblez so that changmin can’t find him and buy them all

- will go to independent art exhibitions in his free time and class it as “studying”

chanhee (new)

- got 4 distinctions in maths, economics, psychology and physics in school

- received an unconditional offer from 7 russell group universities but finally accepted an offer from the university of cambridge with a shoulder shrug

- studies a double honours in maths and economics; has been class president for three years and will accept nothing less than that

- but still personifies infp

- interns at cambridge university press as a marketing and finance assistant but could calculate his seniors under the table

changmin (q)

- rents a two-bedroom apartment with kevin and his dog, ghana

- he and ghana will often crash in kevin’s room while he’s up all night drawing

- studies art history at école du louvre and takes advantage of the free louvre tickets he gets to “treat” kevin to a day out “on him”

- teaches at the dance studio on the corner; will shout at students who do not get the choreo right after he’s already told them once

- meets his roommate for lunch every day at the same cafe next to notre dame where he orders the iced tea of the day… unless its hibiscus, we don’t do hibiscus

- drags kevin the horror-themed nights at the local cinema complex downtown

haknyeon

- attends leeds beckett university because they offer the best undergraduate degree in photography

- lives in a 10-person house but only gets along with three of them

- voted best smile at the union awards, he gave the prize toothbrush to his housemate and they moved out because they were offended

- often takes advantage of the student night at the clubs in town every monday

- dance leader of the b-boying society

- will take a packed lunch and wander into the dales when he needs time away from chaotic uni life

sunwoo

- goes to the university of hull to study sport rehabilitation; everyone wants to sit beside him but he just wants to copy their notes

- captain of the football (soccer) team and won the national university championship two years in a row

- doesn’t go to the library because the only free desks by late afternoon are too close to the high story windows

- lives in a flatshare in town so that he’s closer to the nightlife

- friends with everyone and is often mistaken as ‘the guy who flirts’

- doesn’t attend lectures unless they’re after 2pm and will only go to campus on days he has football training

eric

- lives just across the river from sunwoo in lincolnshire

- spent most of his time playing animal crossing and failed his exams, found the university of lincoln through clearing

- studies business management but is considering switching to computer science if they’ll let him

- goes there just to compete against sunwoo in the humber games

- everyone wants to be his friend because he sounds like a cali boy... will be friends with anyone if they will listen to him

- has many dates lining up for the end of year ball but would rather take sunwoo

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A/N: we procrastinated the other day and came up with these university scenarios for the boyz and they just fit so well.. will probably also post this on my twitter lol

#deobiwritersnet #tbznetwork #the boyz #tbz #the boyz headcanons #tbz headcanons #the boyz as european students #the boyz scenario #tbz scenarios #the boyz university #tbz university #the boyz college #tbz college au

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goldstarnation · 4 years ago

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Q3 2021 GOLD STAR MEDIA SCHEDULES & REVIEW

Members may earn up to 18 points for writing, by the end of September 30 KST:

Up to three solo paras of 400+ words based on their quarterly schedule (does not count toward your monthly limit). (three points each)

Up to three threads of eight posts (four per participant, including the starter) based on the monthly schedule. (three points each)

Threads and solos do not have to take place directly during an important date listed on the schedule, but must be related to what the muse is mentioned to be doing in the paragraph explaining their schedule/the company’s schedule and/or their thoughts on the mentioned activities or lack thereof.

These schedules may be updated if new information needs to be added.

Reminder: Please do not post schedule posts in the fmdschedule tag.

Schedule posts for this quarter can be tagged with #fmdgsrq321.

OVERALL COMPANY

Gold Star is teaming up with VLive this quarter to host a special VLive relay as company promotion. This means that every artist under Gold Star Media (including the un-debuted members of Marigold and Quicksilver, who will do so under the moniker of Gold Star trainees) will be expected to do a solo VLive this quarter to participate in the relay. The date will be flexible with management, but it will be pre-scheduled and pre-announced and will need to last at least fifteen minutes, but can be longer. Due to delays in the finishing touches being put on the Base Culture Complex, BC, Dimensions, and Gold Star have also banded together to get some mediaplay opportunities and good media karma in the name of base by hosting a community service event each month together. Idols are encouraged to participate for good press, but they are not required to.

Important dates:

July 1-September 30: Gold Star VLive relay.

July 19: Volunteering opportunity at an animal shelter with BC & Dimensions idols.

August 30: Volunteering opportunity at an orphanage with BC & Dimensions idols.

September 20-22: Chuseok (no group schedules).

September 27: Volunteering opportunity delivering meals to the elderly with BC & Dimensions idols.

SILHOUETTE

Silhouette celebrates eleven years on the very first day of the quarter and will hold a group VLive to celebrate with their fans. They’re welcome to tease their upcoming comeback during that time as long as they don’t spoil too much, as it will have been announced by then. They come back on July 19th and the song does well to the standard of Silhouette’s last few releases. They also participate in festival season, having a few gigs booked to perform thanks to their general public appeal due to their longevity and mature image. They’ve also been chosen as ambassadors of LG phones and will record and film a special promotional single for the brand in August that will be released in September. On top of that, Silhouette is scheduled to release another mini-album before the year is out, which they’ll record in August after wrapping comeback promotions. In September, they’ll be learning the title track choreography and attending fittings.

Important dates:

July 1: 11th anniversary VLive.

July 19: Release of “Kill Bill” & Black Box album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through August 19.

July 24: Fan sign in Gangnam, Seoul

July 26: Fan sign in Gimpo.

August 2: Fan sign in Incheon.

August 4: Performance at Daegu Chimaek Festival in Daegu (also performing: BEE, Lipstick, & Gal.actic).

August 19: End of “Kill Bill” music show promotions.

August 23: “Woo Hoo” M/V filming.

August 28: Performance at Myaenghri Peace Art Festival (also performing: Lipstick).

September 6: Release of “Woo Hoo” CF single.

September 17: Performance at Chinese International Students’ Festival (also performing: Alien, 7ROPHY, Lucid, and Impulse).

September 26: Performance at Hallyu Dream Concert in Gyeongju (also performing: Decipher, BEE, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Chroma Crystal, Gal.actic, Alien, MARS, Lucid, Aria, Origin, Impulse, and Fuse.)

September 28: “Decalcomanie” comeback fittings.

September 29: Performance at Cheonan World Dance Festival in Cheonan (also performing: 7ROPHY, Lucid, and Fuse).

ARIA

The first half of the quarter is spent finishing comeback preparations and Aria makes their comeback in August. It’s one of their more traditionally summer-themed releases and the response among both fans and the general public are mixed, but still generally positive. It’s not the hit song of the summer, but a full album makes fans happy (even if a sizable chunk of it is member solo tracks) and Aria continues to experiment with maturing their sound. They continue promotions through almost the end of the quarter with music shows and fan signs, and Gold Star has booked them for a few festivals to get the song out to more ears.

Important dates:

July 13: “Firework” comeback fittings.

July 20: Two of Us photo book shoot.

August 1: Performance at Suwon KT Wiz Supporters Festival in Suwon (also performing: Gal.actic and Aria).

August 2: “Firework” M/V” filming.

August 19: Release of “Firework” & Two of Us album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through September 19.

August 23: Fan sign in Yeouido, Seoul.

August 29: Fan sign in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul.

September 6: Fan sign in Gimpo.

September 10: Performance at Daeko Beer Festival.

September 19: End of “Firework” music show promotions.

September 24: Performance at Hero Concert (also performing: WISH and Fuse).

September 26: Performance at Hallyu Dream Concert in Gyeongju (also performing: Decipher, BEE, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Chroma Crystal, Gal.actic, Alien, MARS, Lucid, Silhouette, Origin, Impulse, and Fuse.)

ORIGIN

Origin is expected to continue to practice their performance of their comeback throughout July and August, but they will be flying in and out of Osaka over this time period as they kickstart the Japan leg of their tour. Most of their time is still spent in Seoul, though, since they have plenty of comeback preparations still left to do such as fittings, teaser photo shoots, and the music video filming. During this time before they’re busy with promotions, they’ll also record their next mini-album. Their single “Dynamite” is released in August and as their first true English single is an even bigger success than anyone really expected, though Gold Star put in a lot of work on their end to make sure it was successful. It tops the charts in countries all over the world, including South Korea and the US, earning them the first ever Billboard Hot 100 #1 for an all-South Korean act and dominating the Korean charts for an impressive length of time. They might just have another song of the year in the bag. Promotions continue as normal, with music shows and performances for overseas media, though they won’t be having any fan signs since it’s a single release.

Important dates:

July 13: Release of Map of the Soul: 7 ~ The Journey ~ Japanese album.

July 15: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

July 17: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

July 18: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

July 20: “Dynamite” comeback fittings.

July 26: “Dynamite” teaser photo shoot.

August 1: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

August 3: “Dynamite” M/V filming.

August 12: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

August 14: Map of the Soul tour concert at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

August 20: Release of “Dynamite” single + press showcase, music show promotions continue through September 20.

September 6: Filming of Tiny Desk Concert (to be released: September 20).

September 12: Performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York, NY, USA.

September 26: Filming of performances [2] [3] [4] [5] and segments [2] [3] [4] for “Origin Week” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

IMPULSE

Impulse will be traveling back and forth on their Impulse Road Tour throughout Asia and the US in July and August. Once they get back from tour, they’ll be preparing for their Japanese comeback and their Korean comeback at the same time. Though they’ll record their Japanese mini-album and learn the title track’s choreography in July, August will see them balancing fittings and photo book shoots for their Japanese comeback with recording their Korean comeback mini album. In September, they’ll film their music video for their Japanese title track and make their comeback with the Japanese mini-album as well as practice the choreography for their Korean comeback title track, “Blue Flame” and staged b-side “When The Wind Blows”.

Important dates:

July 10: Impulse Road Tour at KBS Arena in Seoul, South Korea.

July 11: Impulse Road Tour at KBS Arena in Seoul, South Korea.

July 24: Impulse Road Tour at Taipei International Convention Center in Taipei, Taiwan.

July 26: Performance at Ulsan Music Festival in Ulsan (also performing: Decipher, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Unity, Aria, Fuse, Femme Fatale, and Vive).

August 3: Impulse Road Tour at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ, USA.

August 5: Impulse Road Tour at Verizon Theatre in Dallas, TX, USA.

August 8: Impulse Road Tour at Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

August 10: Impulse Road Tour at The Warfield in San Francisco, CA, USA.

August 14: Impulse Road Tour at Star Hall KITEC in Hong Kong.

August 16: Japanese comeback fittings.

August 20: Venus Japanese mini-album jacket shoot.

September 4: Impulse Road Tour at BCC Hall Central Plaza Lardprao in Bangkok, Thailand.

September 7: “Hanasakemirae” M/V filming.

September 17: Performance at Chinese International Students’ Festival (also performing: Alien, 7ROPHY, Lucid, and Silhouette).

September 19: Performance at Guro G Festival in Seoul (also performing: Knight and Vive).

September 22: Release of Venus Japanese mini-album.

↳ PULS2

No schedules for the quarter.

Important dates:

N/A

FUSE

Activity finally kicks back up for Fuse this quarter. They’re in high gear for comeback preparations as they finish preparing to make their first comeback in what will be a few days over a year at the time of release. On top of that, they have some performances in the form of festival concerts and one in their role as Shilla Duty Free ambassadors, and they also wrap up their La Rouge concert tour in Yokohama a few weeks before their comeback. “Hands Up” earns mixed opinions, as Fuse singles have often done in the past, but the song does well enough to prove Fuse shouldn’t be dungeoned long-term.

Important dates:

July 15: “Hands Up” comeback fittings.

July 17: Performance* at Cass Blue Playground concert (also performing: Knight Light). *the concert would be in-person

July 26: Performance at Ulsan Music Festival in Ulsan (also performing: Decipher, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Unity, Aria, Impulse, Femme Fatale, and Vive).

July 27: Performance at Hong Kong Shilla Duty Free Anniversary Concert in Hong Kong.

August 1: 7th anniversary group VLive.

August 14: La Rouge tour concert at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

August 15: La Rouge tour concert at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

August 21: “Hands Up” teaser photo shoot.

August 22: “Hands Up” M/V filming.

September 6: “Hands Up” suit dance video filming (to be released: September 13).

September 7: Release of “Hands Up” single + press showcase, music show promotions continue through October 7.

September 9: Relay dance video filming.

September 13: Special dance practice collab video filming (to be released: September 18).

September 24: Performance at Hero Concert (also performing: WISH and Aria).

September 29: Performance at Cheonan World Dance Festival in Cheonan (also performing: 7ROPHY, Lucid, and Silhouette).

↳ FUSE B&W

Fuse B&W continue to promote “Naughty” throughout June with the regular round of music show promotions. It’s praised for its choreography and brings some extra attention to the members of the sub-unit and makes fans a little less antsy about a full group comeback, as both of the sub-units promotions were intended to.

Important dates:

July 21: End of “Naughty” music show promotions.

FEMME FATALE

Femme Fatale starts the quarter by finishing getting everything ready for their comeback at the very end of July. Shortly before their comeback, they make a festival appearance, something that’s become rare for them lately, and fans are excited to see them participate in one again. “Ice Cream” does well because they’re Femme Fatale, but it isn’t the un-paralleled hit Gold Star might have hoped for, as it ends up being a polarizing release among fan opinion. Luckily, they’ll already be working on their first full-length album by the time they make that comeback. They’ll record the album throughout July and August, and during their time off of promotions in August, they’ll also be in the dance studio to practice choreography for “Lovesick Girls” and “Pretty Savage”. Once they’re done promoting “Ice Cream”, September will be dedicated to finishing up The Album and they’ll also do a shoot for American Elle, where they’ll appear on the cover for October’s issue.

Important dates:

July 5: “Ice Cream” comeback fittings.

July 13: “Ice Cream” teaser photo shoot.

July 15: “Ice Cream” M/V filming.

July 26: Performance at Ulsan Music Festival in Ulsan (also performing: Decipher, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Unity, Aria, Impulse, Fuse, and Vive).

July 31: Release of “Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez)” single + press showcase, music show promotions continue through August 30.

August 20: Elle October issue cover shoot and Elle Song Association video filming.

August 30: End of “Ice Cream” music show promotions.

August 31: “Lovesick Girls” comeback fittings.

September 7: The Album photo book shoot.

September 15: “Lovesick Girls” M/V filming day one & teaser photo and concept video shoot.

September 16: “Lovesick Girls” M/V filming day two.

VIVE

Much like their debut quarter, this quarter is once again an incredibly busy one for Vive. They start it off with going overseas to the US for their showcase tour across the country. During their time in Chicago, they’ll film a special MV for their b-side “Our Summer”. Once they get back, they’ll performance at their first ever festival and they’ll work on getting down the choreography they’ll need to know for their next comeback (”Run Away”, “New Rules”, “Poppin’ Star”, “Can’t We Just Leave The Monster Alive?”, “Angel or Devil”) on rather short notice for how much they have to learn. Their Korean comeback is received well despite not garnering as much attention as their debut. There’s no time to bask in the glow of their first comeback, though as they’ll be busy all throughout late August and September prepping to make their Japanese debut by recording the mini-album. The group will also be recording their first ever OST in August, for release in September.

Important dates:

July 1: STAR in US showcase at Playstation Theatre in New York, NY, USA.

July 3: “Our Summer” (selfie ver.) M/V filming (to be released: August 13).

July 4: STAR in US showcase at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, IL, USA.

July 6: STAR in US showcase at The Plaza Live in Orlando, FL, USA.

July 9: STAR in US showcase at Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, GA, USA.

July 11: STAR in US showcase at The Bomb Factory in Dallas, TX, USA.

July 16: STAR in US showcase at The Novo in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

July 26: Performance at Ulsan Music Festival in Ulsan (also performing: Decipher, Lipstick, Knight, CHARM, Unity, Aria, Impulse, Fuse, and Vive).

July 27: “Run Away” comeback fittings.

August 3: “Run Away” M/V filming day one.

August 4: “Run Away” M/V filming day one.

August 14: “Angel or Devil” M/V filming (to be released: October 7).

August 20: “Magic Island” M/V filming (to be released: September 26).

August 24: Participation in Kansai Collection F/W show at Kyocera Dome Osaka in Osaka, Japan.

August 30: Release of “Run Away” & The Dream Chapter: Magic album + press showcase, music show promotions continue through September 30.

September 5: Be Original “New Rules” video filming (to be released: September 11).

September 6: Performance at Tokyo Girls Collection show in Tokyo, Japan.

September 19: Performance at Guro G Festival in Seoul (also performing: Knight and Impulse).

September 20: Release of Doom At Your Service OST “Love Sight”.

September 30: End of “Runaway” music show promotions.

MARIGOLD

First things first, Marigold will film the dance covers they practiced last quarter over the course of July. They’ll be released one by one until the final cover is released the day Marigold’s debut is planned to be announced to the press. Marigold begins to prep for their debut release in earnest this quarter. They’re confirmed internally for a debut in the second half of October with a single album. They’ll be given the chance to listen to the demos in early July and will record the single album throughout July and early August. In August, they’ll practice hard on their choreography for the title “Hocus Pocus” and the b-side “Be Ambitious”. They’ll be expected to work extra hard on all aspects of their debut preparation since they have a lot to live up to with Gold Star’s track record of girl group success. Comeback prep starts to wrap up in September for them. At the end of September, the group’s dance line will film a special cover video with Dingo as pre-debut promotion.

Important dates:

July 6: “16 Shots” dance cover filming (to be released: July 13).

July 9: “Baby Don’t Stop” dance cover filming (to be released: August 13).

July 20: “No Tears Left To Cry” dance cover filming (to be released: September 13).

July 23: “River” dance cover filming (to be released: September 20).

August 7: “Hocus Pocus” debut first fittings.

August 21: “Hocus Pocus” debut second fittings.

September 12: Be Ambitious! promotional single album photo book shoot.

September 25: Dingo Music debut song cover dance video filming (main dancer/vocal/rapper & main rapper/lead dancer/vocal only, to be released: October 6). *excluding Energetic & LATATA

September 30: “Hocus Pocus” M/V filming.

QUICKSILVER

The debut of Quicksilver is closer, but they have more time to prepare than Marigold, so Gold Star has arranged for them to get some additional training in the form of a pre-debut reality show that will be released shortly before their debut. For the show, they’ll be traveling to Los Angeles for two two-week periods to train at famous dance studios in the city. They’ll stay in a house rented out by the company and, in addition to training, they’ll show their team bonding through sightseeing locations such as Santa Monica Pier and Universal Studios and holding weekly group meetings. During their second two-week block, they’ll also focus on recording a pre-debut song and filming a low-budget music video for it in Los Angeles (*Junyoung’s lines will go to main rapper/lead dancer). They’ll film the performance videos they’d be rehearsing for before they leave, and in September, they’ll practice to film a cover of Knight’s “Growl”, which will also be released but will also serve as a way for Gold Star to gauge their improvement as a result of filming the reality show before they begin preparing for their debut more intensely next quarter.

Important dates:

July 8: Performance video I, II, & main dancer/lead vocal solo cover filming (to be released August 1, September 1, & October 1 respectively).

July 12-25: First block of American Training show filming.

July 24: Bonus Clip filming.

August 9-22: Second block of American Training show filming.

September 23: “Growl” cover video filming (to be released: November 1).

#fmdschedule #fmdgsrq321 #queued post

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explodingcrenelation · 6 years ago

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Tony Stark and the Messianic Archetype in Avengers: Endgame

* * * * * S P O I L E R S ahead for Avengers: Endgame * * * * *

From a purely analytical standpoint, I don’t have anything against Tony’s character arc in Endgame culminating with his death. His last moments in the heat of battle weren’t rushed, poorly written, or unearned. If Tony Stark was going to die on screen, of course he’d do it like a goddamn badass—and he did.

At this point Marvel is telling a single story to millions upon millions of people and there’s no way they can craft a narrative to suit every single person. When I say Tony's death didn’t work for me, I do so knowing that Marvel wasn’t writing the story for me anyway. And I'm not trying to disparage the creative team's efforts and storytelling choices. They made a call. I don’t agree it was the right one.

For me, Tony’s death traps him inside a Messianic Archetype that doesn’t elevate his character in a wholly satisfying way and doesn’t fit the themes of the established, team-centric universe. In this essay I will…

…actually write a fucking 4000-word essay, so buckle up and read on if you’re in for the ride.

What Is the Messianic Archetype?

The Messianic Archetype is a messiah trope. It’s exactly what it sounds like—one person (usually (but not always) white, usually (but not always) male) who sacrifices themselves for the greater good.

Here’s how TV Tropes puts it:

In media, the Messianic Archetype is a character whose role in the story (but not necessarily personality) echoes that of Christ. They are portrayed as a savior, whether the thing they are saving is a person, a lot of people or the whole of humanity. They endure a sizable sacrifice as the means of bringing that salvation about for others, a fate they do not deserve up to and including death or a Fate Worse than Death. Other elements may be mixed and matched as required but the Messianic Archetype will include one or more of the following:

- The Chosen One. - True Companions who follow him. - Betrayal by one of those followers. - Persecution by nonbelievers. - Crucified Hero Shot (or other parallels to the Passion Play). - Figurative or literal resurrection. - A Second Coming. - The initials JC.

Some examples of Messianic Archetypes in popular narratives are: Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (or Kirk in Star Trek: Into Darkness), Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows, Superman in Batman vs Superman, or Neo in the Matrix trilogy. The Doctor in Doctor Who is frequently and repeatedly presented as a messiah figure. Multiple incarnations of Sherlock also follow suit in multiple imaginings of the the Reichenbach Falls scenario. (I won’t go into details with any of these characters. I trust the Messianic Archetypes here are obvious to anyone familiar with these stories.)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself, we see Messianic Archetypes popping up all over the place—like daisies! Steve plays this part when he sacrifices himself in The First Avenger to stop Red Skull's plan to bomb several major American cities. His time in the ice is a kind of death from which he is subsequently “resurrected” in modern day New York. To a lesser extent, he also offers himself up as a sacrifice to save Bucky in The Winter Soldier.

T’Challa follows this pattern in Black Panther when he’s betrayed by W’Kabi, defeated by Killmonger, and subsequently resurrected within the safety of M’Baku’s tribe.

In the first Thor movie, Thor is betrayed by Loki, sacrifices himself to the Destroyer to protect his human friends, and he comes back from near-death with the return of Mjölnir, having proven himself worthy of the hammer.

Carol Danvers destroys Mar-Vell’s engine in Captain Marvel to keep enemies from getting their hands on tech that could harm millions of innocent people. Her human life symbolically ends in the subsequent explosion, and she’s effectively reborn with superpowers.

Pepper Potts is betrayed by her former colleague Killian in Iron Man 3, selected as his “chosen one” for the Extremis injection, and she dies and is reborn from fire.

Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2—

Well, I could go on for a long time, but... you get the idea.

The Messianic Archetype isn’t particularly new to popular media, let alone the MCU.

This trope is deeply, almost subconsciously, woven into the fabric of popular western storytelling. There's nothing inherently wrong with that. Tropes are tropes for a reason—they speak to us on a cultural and instinctual level. We want to hear these stories over and over, replay them in new ways and look at them from different angles precisely because there is something meaningful in the narrative.

And Tony Stark's narrative is no exception. His repeated acts of self-sacrifice fit into the Messianic Archetype very, very well.

Proof That Tony Stark Has a Heart

The MCU kicked off in 2008 with the first Iron Man movie and Tony Stark has ostensibly been the main character of the franchise from the beginning.

The Iron Man movies establish early on that Tony has a savior complex to match the size of his ego. Our genius playboy billionaire philanthropist is a deeply flawed hero who started out his career as a maker of WMDs. He was widely known as “The Merchant of Death” before he saw the error of his ways. Tony understands he has done many Bad Things and he must atone for those Bad Things—with his life, if necessary.

“I shouldn’t be alive, unless it was for a reason. ... I finally know what I have to do and I know in my heart that it’s right.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

The first Iron Man movie climaxes with Tony ordering Pepper to blow the Arc Reactor to stop Stane’s rampage, even though Tony might perish in the process. In Iron Man 2, Tony is actively dying from palladium poisoning, but he faces down Vanko (sans Iron Man suit) on the speedway of the Monaco Historic Grand Prix. In the first Avengers movie, we see Tony put his life on the line to get a nuclear weapon out of New York.

This is a repeated pattern for Tony, and like an addict, it’s one he struggles to break. Over and over Tony flings himself into the fray, believing he’s the one who makes the difference—he’s the willing sacrifice whose blood saves the world.

Tony selects himself to be “the chosen one” because he sees himself as the one at fault for bringing evil into the world.

“We create our own demons. Who said that? What does that even mean? Doesn’t matter, I said it cause he said it. ...So why am I telling you this? Because I had just created demons, and I didn’t even know it.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 shows us just how deeply responsible Tony feels for the wrongs of the world. Because he made naive (and selfish) mistakes when he was young, Tony blames himself for creating villains that plague the earth now.

We see this best in the aftermath of the destruction of Tony’s mansion in Malibu.

“Pepper, it’s me. I’ve got a lot of apologies to make and not a lot of time. So first off, I’m so sorry I put you in harm’s way. That was selfish and stupid and it won’t happen again. ...And I’m sorry in advance because I can’t come home yet. I need to find this guy. You got to stay safe. That’s all I know.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man 3

Yes, Tony absolutely provoked the Mandarin, a known terrorist, and the result is the complete annihilation of Tony’s home. Tony accepts responsibility for the destruction as though he was the one who shot the missiles himself. He goes so far as to volunteer himself for a solo mission to find the Mandarin without even bothering to contact SHIELD or the Avengers for help. He made this mess, he’s going to clean it up. All the while he suffers through crippling anxiety and panic attacks, demonstrating that the burden he’s put on his own shoulders is, in fact, too much for him to handle by himself. Still, Tony denies himself the comforts of home and family until he can atone for his wrongdoings.

Miraculously, Iron Man 3 gives Tony a respite when the tables are turned and, for once, Tony is the one ultimately saved by Pepper. After her rescue (pun intended), Tony gives up the armor, commits to having the shrapnel taken out of his chest, and he starts rebuilding the literal ruins of his life—both physical and metaphorical.

The respite doesn’t last, of course, because recovery doesn’t go in a straight line—oh, and also the franchise isn’t over and the MCU kinda needs Iron Man. And so Tony slides back into familiar, self-destructive patterns.

"Few years ago, I almost lost [Pepper], so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then. I never stopped. 'Cause the truth is, I don't wanna stop.” —Tony Stark, Civil War

Tony taking on the mantle of the Messianic Archetype once more in Endgame falls perfectly in line with his established need to compulsively and perpetually atone for his sins. As a perfectionist who needs to assuage his guilt for his ongoing (and perceived) failures, Tony simply can’t stop himself from offering up his life in penance. Statistically it was bound to catch up with him, and in Endgame it does.

And not only does Tony give his life in true Messianic fashion, we are “treated” to a hyper-realistic and painfully extended sequence where his life drains out of him as his loved ones gather to witness him gasping out his last breath. (Thanks for that, by the way, Marvel. I’ll put this scene with the dead baby bunnies my childhood cat used to bring home as gifts. How thoughtful.)

Maybe the reason for the intensity of Tony’s death scene is to make the audience believe his death is the Real Thing, not some comic-book-superhero-movie trickery that he’ll be back from in a few minutes’ time. Perhaps it’s the only way to ensure we commit to the emotional depth of the moment. Perhaps the filmmakers see it as an homage to RDJ’s acting talent and commitment to the role. Regardless of the rationale behind the camera’s unflinching gaze, Tony’s excruciating death hammers home the brutal and lonely reality of the Messianic Archetype: it’s cruel to put the fate of the world on one person’s shoulders.

But Tony embraces that end. He throws himself into the machinery of fate, convinced he’s the cog that will make it all work.

And he does make it work.

So why is that a problem?

The Team-Oriented Universe

The problem with Tony doubling (tripling? quadrupling?) down on the Messianic Archetype at the apex of the franchise is that the MCU is an ensemble, team-oriented universe.

“You think you're the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you've become part of a bigger universe, you just don't know it yet." —Nick Fury, Iron Man

Fury tells us from the get-go that Tony isn’t the be-all-end-all of the MCU. It’s possible for Tony—for them all—to become something greater than the sum of their parts.

“There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more.” —Nick Fury, Avengers

The entire first Avengers movie is dedicated to establishing this premise, to getting these knuckleheads to work together because, alone, they’re too wrapped up in their own bullshit to adequately deal with the forces that threaten the planet. Things don’t start to go right for them until they set aside their personal issues and act as a unit.

As we all know, our team passes the test and they establish an important principle of the MCU: teamwork is powerful and it’s more effective than working solo.

True, Tony’s self-sacrifice in the context of the Battle of New York helps save the day; but it’s only one part of a coordinated effort. Tony chucking the nuke into space would have been pointless without the added efforts of Steve to coordinate civilian safety, Hawkeye to relay enemy movements, Thor to separate Loki from the scepter, Natasha to close the portal, and Hulk to subdue Loki and ultimately catch Tony as he fell from the wormhole. The team achieved a better outcome together than they each could have achieved separately.

But even in the shared afterglow of winning the Battle of New York, the individual members of the team struggle to perfect their dynamic. New challenges present themselves. There’s always room for the team to grow and become stronger together as the franchise progresses. That’s the whole point.

Tony, for his part, waffles back and forth between his desire to be the savior mechanic (to fix everything by himself) and his desire to work cooperatively with his found-family of superheroes for the common good. This internal conflict plays out over the course of the franchise as Tony takes on the Mandarin by himself in Iron Man 3. The issue then escalates in Age of Ultron when Tony convinces Bruce to help him create Ultron, unbeknownst to the rest of the team. Murder-bot problems and team drama ensue. Tony’s cycle of guilt perpetuates itself in the wake of the disaster in Sokovia, which prompts Tony to adopt the Sokovia Accords. He submits himself and the team to UN governance in Civil War. More team drama ensues.

The logical progression of this escalating team conflict should have involved Tony confronting his deep-seated compulsion to destroy himself for the sake of others. This is exactly the problem Pepper keeps trying to point out to him—his Messianic tendencies have started to cause more problems than they solve.

“There is nothing except this. ... There's the next mission, and nothing else.” —Tony Stark, Iron Man

Tony has struggled from the beginning to find the right balance between personal sacrifice and sharing team effort.

Pepper frequently tries to remind Tony that he doesn’t live alone in the world, he can’t do it all by himself. And there are people who want him to live.

“You’re all I have, too, you know.” —Pepper Potts, Iron Man

Imagine how emotionally satisfying it would have been to see Tony outgrow his need for sacrificial penance and internalize a better lesson: that the savior can be saved, the burden can be shared, and life can go on.

A Better Ending for Tony

The MCU had the perfect opportunity to give us an ending that would be happier for Tony and a better fit for a team-centric universe.

In Guardians of the Galaxy we see Peter Quill and his team survive the power of an Infinity Stone by working together to share the burden of its energy.

Peter Quill is the son of a Celestial—he’s basically immortal up until the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. That’s why he and his team could hold the stone without any ill effects.

Also, they only had to channel the power of one stone. Not six.

That’s a fair point.

But by the time Tony had all of the Infinity Stones in Endgame, the battlefield was chock full of all kinds of superheroes. Wanda and Carol by themselves are embodiments of two of the Infinity Stones. Hulk had managed to bear all of the stones by himself earlier in the movie. Steve, T’challa, and Bucky are enhanced super soldiers. Thor, Valkyrie, and the other Asgardians might not be Celestials, but they are gods—and there were a lot of them on that field.

And we’re supposed to believe none of these characters could offer any help to Tony whatsoever? None of them could hold Tony’s hand for a single minute to save his life?

There are plenty of arguments that could be made: Tony was too fast, no one knew what was happening, or everyone else was occupied in battle. But at the end of the day, it’s a choice the creative team made. Tony died because they wanted him to die.

And not much would have to change to save his life.

Imagine this: Tony gets the stones from Thanos and, in true Messianic Archetype fashion, he commits to making the snap, fully expecting it means his death—but then Pepper is there and Pepper has always been the one asking Tony to stop offering up his life to pay for some imaginary debt he thinks he owes. He hesitates, and it’s just long enough for Carol and Wanda swoop in, putting their hands on him and taking the brunt of the energy. Thor and Steve and Bruce and Clint pile on. Peter Parker links up, too, and on and on until the entire rest of the team, all across the battlefield, are in contact with each other and alight with power, channeling the energy of the six stones, keeping Thanos and his monsters at bay.

Tony can still have his ultra-badass “I am Iron Man” moment as he stands at the center of this surging and fluxing cosmic energy—but this time he does it with support. There are people who care about him (and each other) on all sides. And there are so many of them. Tony isn’t the only one who matters, he’s just the lynch pin that holds it all together.

Tony is Iron Man.

More importantly? Together they’re all the Avengers.

*SNAP*

The universe is set right.

Maybe Tony doesn’t escape entirely unscathed. Maybe he loses his arm as suggested by this post. Maybe the others all leave with their own scars, too. But Tony’s alive and he’s finally, deeply aware of what it means to transcend the limits of personal sacrifice and share the hero’s burden with others.

He knows now exactly what the Avengers are capable of. Oh, and by the way? That protective shield he wanted around the world in Age of Ultron? Here they all are. All these wonderful, powerful people are going to protect the Earth. And you know what? They don’t need Tony Stark’s myopic self-sacrifice to do it.

Tony finally feels like he’s done enough—and maybe now he believes there are other heroes out there who can do better than he can. Anyway, he gets to go home to Morgan and Pepper and he finds that it’s not so hard for him to let the new kids do the tough jobs now. He happily goes back to his role as “consultant” for the Avengers, he’s a mad inventor helping change the world for the better, and he also gets to have the long adventure of being a husband and a dad. He doesn’t have to choose one identity over the other—he’s Iron Man. He can redefine what the job means whenever he wants to.

(Also, he finds a way to rescue Nat because she didn’t deserve to be fridged like that. Just saying.)

This ending, or any number of variations like it, would have allowed Tony to finally show real growth at the end of his character arc, instead of succumbing to the same old self-destructive pattern we've seen from him time and time again. And it would have reinforced the theme of teamwork and its power to elevate all those who participate.

Maybe it’s cheesy, but you know what? It’s the ending I wanted. I know I’m not alone.

Tony’s Not Really Dead, You Say?

“There’s no need to be upset about Tony’s death,” some might say. “Tony’s gonna come back!”

Resurrection is a huge part of the Messianic Archetype—and it might be that the filmmakers do intend to bring Tony back in some later movie. It might be they simply want Tony’s death in Endgame to sit a little while longer so it has a greater impact. (Gotta push for that best picture Oscar, right? The Oscars hate superhero movies, but they do love a sad ending.)

While I’m wishing for things, maybe Marvel will also release the multiple alternate endings they filmed for Endgame, essentially creating a “choose your own adventure.” Maybe we’ll all be able to pick the ending we like best and forget the rest exist.

But I can’t make a judgement based on what might be, I can only say how I feel based on what we were given in the theater—for all intents and purposes, that’s the official story Marvel wants to share.

The Endgame narrative insists there’s only one possible path to victory against Thanos. The “one possible path” is basically the equivalent of the creative team saying, “Don’t @ me.” There certainly must have been an impossible number of endings they could have put on film. Tony’s death is the one they picked.

So, sorry for @ing you, Marvel, I guess, but there’s just one more point I want to make...

A Personal Note

RDJ acted the hell out of Tony's final scene. He acted the hell out of the whole franchise. Tony's death was powerful and intensely moving. I wanted to ugly cry in the lobby after the movie was over, and I was upset for days after.

So. Good job, Marvel. You got in some surprises and you wrung out some feelings from viewers like me. Now that the movie’s taken the world by storm, the surprises will play themselves out. So, I guess the big question is: Will audiences want to revisit this adventure and the feelings you ultimately left them with?

For me? My reluctant answer is: no. I don’t want to see Infinity War or Endgame again. Not really. Not in their entirety. I didn’t mind the slog through Infinity War in 2018 because I thought, Hey, maybe this is leading to an ultimately happy and satisfying conclusion for these characters I care about so much. And, to be fair—right up until the last 15 minutes of Endgame, I was ready to say, “All’s forgiven.”

There’s this thing in storytelling called “payoff.” It’s when you deliver a satisfying resolution or fulfillment to your audience after they commit to your narrative journey. Payoff can be extraordinarily subjective, so, again, I acknowledge that there’s no way to please everyone.

For me, there’s no reward in the resolution of Endgame that makes the slog to its conclusion worth it. Tony’s ending is so needlessly sacrificial, so unnecessarily brutal, that it erases much of the enjoyment I otherwise had in watching the entire rest of the film.

Don’t get me wrong. I like sad movies and scary movies in their own context. I like them when I can choose them and know that’s what I'm getting myself into. Sometimes I want the catharsis of being utterly terrified or brought to tears. Sometimes we need stories to give us the chance to feel deep and scary emotions in a safe environment. That’s an important function of creative work.

And, I mean, truly, Endgame gave us some great acting, great effects. Amazing talent. Really fun and creative moments. I’m not trying to disparage all the work that went into its making.

But I feel like someone took me in a limo to a high-class restaurant to eat caviar and watch sad arthouse theater when all I really wanted was to go into town with my friends for some ice cream and a fun movie.

I didn’t need rainbow-colored sprinkles on my ending, but something a bit sweeter would have been nice. So, well done, Marvel. But also—no, thank you.

As it stands, Endgame was too bitter for my taste.

#avengers #endgame #spoilers #negativity #long post #meta #my rambling #tony stark #iron man

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salsa-history-project · 6 years ago

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Mambo! Not a simple origin story.

Recently when I mentioned that we were studying mambo in my salsa history class, my little sister asked if mambo really involves shouting “Mambo!” before everyone starts dancing like they do on West Side Story. I replied that I was not sure, but wouldn’t you know, that when I read Danielle Goldman’s chapter “Mambo’s Open Shines” from her book I Want to be Ready: Improvised Dance as a Practice of Freedom, that at least occasionally this word was yelled before mambo ensued. In fact, this question changed the way that I thought about the study of history, especially pertaining to studying subjects like the history of salsa dancing.

The difference is that with the history of mambo and salsa, the decisions that changed history were mostly made by normal people who went out to dance or owned establishments or directed bands. In history textbooks, we study the acts and lives of larger-than-life characters and figures that lead us through well-defined events. This change is related to a key line from Goldman: “Mambo Emerged in the 1940’s And 1950’s as one of the Son’s most popular international variations, traversing numerous borders. Travel, Immigration, and the circulation of movies and records resulted in Mambo’s wide dispersion and caused changes in its form and significance.” (Goldman 32) I suppose an example of these films reaching into today is West Side Story, because for my sister and I, it was our first (and only) experience with the concept of mambo until this class. Now to make things even more interesting, the characters of West Side Story are Puerto Rican, and the movie is perhaps an accurate depiction of the spread of Mambo from Cuba into Puerto Rico and on to New York.

Speaking of New York, it was quite an experience to read a rather scholarly chapter that had as one of its main subjects the Palladium, the night club on Broadway and 53rd street in Manhattan(Goldman 39). Goldman makes excellent arguments about the role of race, class, and how these factors came together in dance halls like these. These arguments center around the continuation of a process of the spread of Afro Cuban music and dance. One of Goldman’s best illustrations is the review of a New York Times dance critic, John Martin (Goldman 52). From his critique, I get an idea of how much white people liked Mambo, how awkward some of them felt trying to learn dances they were not used to, and how some, seemingly Martin included, saw these cultural dances as something odd but very entertaining that was well within their right to consume for entertainment.

But really, speaking of New York, the Palladium sounds like inspiration for a gritty romance novel. I have heard “gritty” used in a lot of movie reviews lately. Goldman describes the way the Palladium worked with all its social and historical implications so that it still sounds like a really exciting and revolutionary place. It seems like a place that people even today would want to be a part of. In fact, now that I think of it, our modern day effort at a gathering of people who want to belong to something that might inspire art if the “Raid Area 51″ Facebook event where people showed up in the middle of the desert at the prompting of a random joke.

At first, trying to keep up with the many times that the dance was changed, the many places it was danced and the different names that were attributed to it is dizzying, but I think this is the result of trying to apply the very rigid rules of historical fact to a much more fluid and complex subject than I am used to. Of course, historians argue the significance and accuracy of these events, but in a way, history is made for us. When studying Latin dance, scholars look for patterns in rhythms, body posture and instruments used in the music and attempt to trace their origin. The result is less of an origin story and more of a web of evidence.

#powered by mambo #mambo #dance moves #dance club #Area 51

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weddingdjgalway-blog · 6 years ago

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Just how To Pick The Right Celtic Wedding Event Ring

So the pleased time has come for you to select your wedding ring!

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drewandhardy · 6 years ago

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#cluecrewquestionnaire

1. What is your favorite Nancy Drew game and why? Ghost of Thornton Hall! My Nancy Drew Holy Grail. This game just does everything right. The backstory of the Thornton family is beautiful and terrible and is the backbone of this game. The cast of characters are amazing. Clara, Wade, Harper -- all tragically complex and interesting. I’ll even throw Frat Boy Colton a bone here and say he added something to the story. Harper is straight up modeled after Helena Bohnem Carter in every role ever (though she most closely resembles Bellatrix Lestrange, probably). I absolutely loved hunting through the graveyard and reading old books to find out more about this family, their past, and this bizarre little southern island they live on. (Side note: Do tiny pieces of real estate like this exist off the coast of Georgia? Okay, I have consulted GoogleMaps and it appears they do. Making a note to visit.) The setting is just gorgeous, in the dreary, creepy way you would expect it to be. It reminded me of the abandoned town of Spectre from Big Fish. In fact, the whole thing has an eerie but beautiful Tim Burton-esque vibe to me. You have some amazing spaces to explore, including locked doors and hidden tunnels to boot. Puzzles are on point. Every puzzle in this game is going to help you advance the plot; nothing is sending you on benign errands. This was just seriously an awesome game. It’s the first ND game I’ve played in the Blahunka era, and it really opened a door to some of my other series favorites.

FIN, DDI, SPY, and TRT probably round of my top 5.

2. Have you played all 32 games in the series? If not, which ones haven’t you played? If yes, which one did you play first? I played MHM first, back in the day. Nothing like a little Abby seance to turn you on to a series.

Though I’ve been play since I was a wee baby jr. sleuth, I really rediscovered the series about 3 years ago. Still haven’t hit some of the more clunky sounding ones: White Wolf, Venice, Twister, Ransom, Medallion (started it but I can’t get through this gd game). I also still haven’t played DED or ASH but definitely looking forward to those.

3. What is your favorite line from any character in the series? Because I’m fresh off of SPY, I’m going to say “Be good. Be a little bad.”

4. If you could change the ending to any game, which one would it be (no spoilers, though)? Less jet packs.

5. Which game is your least favorite, and why? I mean, SCK is obviously not the biggest thrill, but damn I really hated fucking Castle Malloy. I thought I was going to love this concept: An upcoming wedding at a dilapidated castle in Ireland, where the groom suddenly goes missing?! SIGN ME UP, I SAY. But I really ate my words. This game is such a tedious slog to get through. Kyler, the bride in question, sits on her ass reading her damn book while you go on a wild goose chase for her husband. (Wild goose chase is hardly even figurative: there’s a damn chase-sheep-give-them-mohawks puzzle for christ sake.) The puzzles are long, and you frequently have to hunt down several missing pieces before you can even start said puzzles. The ending has to be some of the most bizarro, half-baked writing the Nancy Drew series has ever seen. Not to mention, the final sequence was one of the most infuriating things I’ve ever experienced (and I’m not even certain that this is hyperbole). I blew myself up approximately 35 times before - in a fit of rage - I Googled what nuanced methodology I needed to master in order to simply lift a bottle.

6. Which character is your favorite? Why? Oy, probably Dagny. But give me dem Hardy Boys any day. Also, Hilda Swenson. And Renate (CAP). And Viv (DOG). I tend to enjoy the old eccentric ladies.

7. Which character is your least favorite? Why? I’m pretty sure Holt Scotto (DDI) is part of the alt-right, so.

8. How do you feel about the whole Nancy/Ned vs. Nancy/Frank situation? Do you ship her with someone else? Who, and why? Patiently waiting for Nancy and Frank’s love story to arise in MID.

9. Do you have any fun headcanons about any of the games or characters? DAN is based off of The Devils Wears Prada.

10. If you could visit any of the locations of the games, which ones would they be and why?

That absolutely wild underworld set in LIE (someone explain why you build an elaborate set UNDER the stage instead of on it...)

Dry Creek (SHA)

Thornton’s bouge island

All the cool Pacific Northwest locations in DDI -- lighthouse, island, whale cave, etc

Wickford Castle

Royal Palladium

The Train

11. Did you read any of the original Nancy Drew books? If yes, do you like them? If no, would you consider reading one? I have not! But absolutely. Someone recommend the best one to me!

12. What is one thing any good detective can’t live without? Locked shit.

13. Which game had the best soundtrack? I really liked the Irish-y jig music in DDI and HAU.

14. What is one thing you wish HER would’ve included in any of the games (a conversation, interaction, location, feature, etc.)? I want a decent explanation of what happened in past-Germany in CUR. As in, we know who’s responsible for the monster games in present day, but they sure as shit weren’t alive in the olden days.

15. Do you have any ideas for a future game? What is it? Maybe a game base around the witch trials or something?

16. How long does it take you to finish a game from start to finish? Depends! Replays I can usually do in a single sitting, but first plays will take me a few days.

17. Did any of the games scare you? If yes, which ones? If no, why? Hell yeah, MHM scared the shit out of me when I was little. That “I see you” is like straight out of the Chamber of Secrets. Now that I’m an adult, some of my scariest thoughts are routed in my family falling apart. GTH and SAW and SPY definitely get to me in a psychological way. Thanks Blahunka, you twisted human.

18. Why did you join the Nancy Drew fandom here on tumblr? I have no real-life humans to talk these things through with, so thank you for being my internet humans.

19. What is your favorite Nancy Drew joke (from in-game or even floating around the internet)? In game, it’s gotta be the mom jeans shade from SPY. On the internet, all of the “It’s Locked” puns.

20. Who is someone in the clue crew you’ve always wanted to get to know? All of ya!

21. What are three unpopular opinions you hold about the games? 1. CUR is overrated. 2. LIE is underrated. 3. Lukas > Jane Penvellyn any damn day. I love playing Monster and hate playing damn “Go Dig.”

22. Do you have any fun theories about any of the games? I really think that if Blahunka stayed on, we would have gotten a Nancy/Ned break up at some point, and then a Nancy/Frank relationship later on.

23. Who was your favorite animal character featured in the games? Whale friend from DDI.

24. Do other people in your life know about your love for Nancy Drew? Yes! I’m constantly trying to get others to play!

25. How long have you been playing these games? Since about 2001.

26. What’s your favorite in-game backstory/history?

Ballad of Dirk Valentine and Francis Humbert; it’s truly the beating heart of SHA and the greatest love story in the series history.

The random hilarity of all Jake Hurley’s famous friends in TRN (he’s basically Tahani). Like, they seriously worked the Lincoln Assassination into this shit?? It’s amazing.

TRT, but more for the Wickford story than for the Marie Antoinette story. (When I played this as a child, I became obsessed with Marie Antoinette as a result of this game. I was too young to realize how ridiculous it is that Marie Antoinette’s tower was mysteriously in Wisconsin. I’m now too old to see through that ridiculously convenient pothole.)

Mickey Malone, his bombass girlfriend Vivienne, and his cool speakeasy.

Everything about the history of the Thorntons.

27. What is your favorite cut scene? Oh my god that damn junk shop in CRY. WHY WHY WHY.

#clue crew #nancydrew #herinteractive #cluecrew

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legionofmyth · 9 months ago

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Palladium Books: Are Palladium’s rules cumbersome and how do you fix them?

Is your game getting bogged down by complex rules? 🧩 In our latest video, we dive into the Palladium Books mechanics that many players find overly cumbersome. Discover why these rules might be slowing down your gameplay and how to navigate them effectively. Don't miss out on this essential discussion! #PalladiumBooks #TabletopRPG #RPGMechanics #TTRPG #RPGCommunity

After the Bomb Heroes Unlimited 2E Rifts Ultimate Edition This video dives into the rules and mechanics of Palladium Books that many players find overly cumbersome and challenging to navigate. Are you ready to unravel the complexities and discover why some of these rules are slowing down your game? Watch now! In the vast world of tabletop RPGs, Palladium Books has always been known for its…

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vintagerpg · 4 years ago

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Lands of Adventure is a 1983 RPG written by Lee Gold and published by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Folks who go nuts for Bill Willingham’s D&D art will be shocked to learn that his very best piece of RPG art is on the cover of this game. (I kinda don’t go in for Willingham generally, but man, this box is worth it for his cover art alone). Worth mentioned that Lee Gold is the editor of Alarums & Excursions, the RPG amateur press association that has been going non-stop since 1975(!).

Anyway, Lands of Adventure was envisioned as a vehicle for semi-historical roleplaying. In the box was a book called a “Culture Pack” that covered ancient Greece and Medieval England. I assume the idea was to expand this modularly, which anticipates those neat green book campaign settings TSR did for 2E D&D. Gold’s culture packs are shockingly detailed for their length, packed with historical, folkloric and cultural info.

The game itself is…it doesn’t feel like a cohesive game to me, honestly. More like a collection of mechanical experiments taped together. A lot of them are interesting! There are three pools of health, for instance — one for “energy” (which makes sense, since one of Gold’s first designs was a magic point system for D&D), one for health (traditional hit points) and one for life (that deplete after you run out of health). This is rather reminiscent of the way the Palladium system works. The magic system verges on free form, with spells designed by the caster and reminiscent of superpowers in Champions while at the same time deployed in a larger context that makes me wonder if Tweet and Rein-Hagen were playing this while developing Ars Magica.

There are other nifty ideas in here, too, ripe for mining. And it is cool they are part of the historical record. It is easy to see, though, why this system (with 11 attributes!) didn’t take off — the industry had largely moved on from this sort of complex experimentation and was already flirting with more narrative-focused play (this came out the same year as Ravenloft!).

#RPG #TTRPG #Tabletop RPG #Roleplaying Game #D&D #dungeons & dragons #Lee Gold #FGU #Fantasy Games Unlimited #Bill Willingham #Lands of Adventure

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letstraveltoorion · 7 years ago

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Why a story about Master of Orion? (Part 2)

2018-09-10

Although I explained why I’ve decided to do a story on Master of Orion, I’ve never really explained the reasons behind that story. Reasons that are both complexes and quite nebulous in some area.

First, I must admit this is not my first attempt at writing. For as long as I remembered, I’ve tried very hard to come up with a story. Usually, those attempts were basically my take a story I liked and spines it my way. Today, I recognized those failed attempts as trial runs for a story one day I will write. Some of these failed starts were based on Yoko Tsuno (French Graphic novels), Robotech (my favourite setting), Battletech, Jovian Chronicles, Heavy Gear and others. All of them grandiose in my mind … all of them, except maybe one, were sent to oblivion.

To be frank, I’ve lost faith in my abilities to come up with a good story. I keep dreaming but I never come up with anything … worth writing for. That is, until a couple of years ago … sometimes in 2016, I stumble upon “the dialogue”!

The Seed

One particular weekend of 2016, not fully awake yet, I surprised myself imagining a conversation between two entities in regard of a third party. It went like this:

“They’re courageous and clever … maybe we should help them a bit?”

“No!” Responded the second being. “Leave them! They are below our considerations, not worth our energies.”

“Really?” interjected the first being, “I notice they have mastered the primary basic of nuclear energy, and they have managed to build a starship to travel beyond their solar system…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Protested the other one. “Giving enough resources, time and a good dose of luck, any animals could develop nuclear weapons and build starships! It doesn’t mean they have reached enlightenment at all…”

At this point, I “woke up” with the realization that “I got something! I do not know what it is, but I got something!”

This realization leads me to reflect on our perception of civilizations throughout history and how we “rank” them through their scientific and technological achievements … but then, I came to ask: What if another civilization had “other” criteria’s? How “we” will be judged by “them”? What if a civilization put more value on the philosophical concepts rather than technology? Or how good are we to make the lands fertile and bountiful? Or in a more exotic way, what if they value magic or psi powers?

Sure, I must not be the first one to think about these concepts but, it got me thinking about how I could explore these concepts…

This was the seed for my story.

The Field

Having the seed is one thing, but to explore this seed to its full potential, I needed a canvas, a sandbox, where I could explore and play with it in any way I saw fit. I chose “Master of Orion” mainly because I enjoyed the game and working a story in that setting should to be fun to do. I said “should”, as it turns out much more work than I originally thought. To be honest, Master of Orion is just a frame for my story. A strong and solid frame in where I can weave anything I want. This frame provided me with textures and flavours along with a general guide line or a starting point to depart from.

Since that frame is quite neutral, neither good nor bad, this means for the story I’m writing that it success or failure will rest solely on my shoulders…

Damn! This is pretty heavy.

The Water

Following my original reasoning, I started to gather data to assist me in my world-building process. During that time, I stumble upon two pieces of information that would shape both the type of story I will tell but also the background of the story…. The primordial “spark” if you wish.

The first information was the myth of Orion himself. On how he would hunt and kill every creature of the Earth was stopped by a scorpion sent by the gods and also, on how both were placed in the sky as constellations … the Scorpion forever chasing Orion in the Milky Way.

Now, I’m sure the people at Microprose probably never thought of the full implications in symbolism then when they put out their second game Master of Orion: Battle at Antares. On how this title fit perfectly with the mythology of Orion.

The second information I stumble upon was the fact that Orion was known as Osiris by the ancient Egyptians. This in turn, let me investigate the ancient Egyptian’s myth which proves to be a bountiful as I’ve found many elements I could apply into my story.

As you can see, this is an opportunity way too good to pass up…. Those ancient myths, or at least some part of them, could be used a background source for long past events that shaped the current universe. So, Mythology will be the water of my story; past events have dramatically affected the galaxy and those ramifications are still felt today.

Mythology also gave me a way to study the interaction between the gods and the mortal. Why? Because: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (Arthur C. Clark). Which means that if mankind has to, one day, deal with a type II or type III civilization (from the Karshev’s Scale), their achievement will look like magic to us and they will probably act like gods toward us.

As water is required for life to grow, I will use mythological tales to infuse life in my story; especially when I have to deal with occurrences that happened thousands of years ago that are still impacting the current events of today.

The Fertilizers

Because a story is, like any other story, a living thing that will grow and evolve as I’m writing it, I will also require some “fertilizer” to help it grow. In this particular case, this will apply to the multitudes of books, novel, comic books and Bandes-dessinnées (French Graphic Novel) I have at my disposal. As I move forward, those books and publications that inspire me for this story will be posted into my Bibliography section of my blog. Also, by reading the description I’ll write about them, you’ll be able to see and understand what part of this specific book or story is fuelling my imagination. But here a few examples:

RPG

Among these sources, you’ll find Role Playing Games (RPG) such as Traveller and 2300 AD, mostly for their world-building materials (very good sources of inspirations). Empire Galactique, one of the rare French RPG by François Nedelec which I love because it gave me a sense of grandeur of what could be a real Galactic Empire. Although the rules are a bit obsolete, its encyclopedia galactica gave me a sets of rules for commerce and judicial systems.

There is also the series Numenéra and their Cypher system by Monte Cook, which include other universe like the Strange, Predations, etc. But Mostly Numenéra because it gave me a visual look of what could be the left-over of a type one or two civilizations. Without their work, my imagination would never have flared up as it did for this project.

But before I go any further, I must also do a special mention to an almost forgotten RPG from TSR (now Wizard of the Coast); the grandfather of the sci-fi genre in the RPG industry… I named Starfrontiers! Launched on the heel of Advanced Donjons & Dragons, perhaps around the same times as Traveller, this game capitalized on the AD&D enthusiasm, this little space opera RPG, although quite cheese by today’s standards, had quite a few details right and to my surprise, can still be relevant today with only a few slight modifications. But what I retain the most from that game was their antagonist: the Sathar! The sathars were an alien race that were enigmatic, sneaky, highly advanced in cybernetic and very deadly … all the marks of a great villain.

There is also the multitude of books of the G.U.R.P.S. by Steve Jackson Games. Due to the intensive research that went into those books, they provided me background or layout on subject I was not familiar with or, like the rest of us, got warped vision of Hollywood and TV shows.

Also, I need to include the multitude universes published by Palladium Books. Their unique take on different subjects was enough to fire my imaginations. Going from their high fantasy world of Paladium World to their post-apocalyptic future of Rifts, and not forgetting their take on the Vietnam War, or the Robotech franchise to their Superhero or super spy genre, every one of them had something to contribute or get inspiration from.

Lastly, I must also include the work of Games Workshop in Warhammer 40,000. Not because of their dystopia future they describe but for the simple fact it was the, maybe not the first, but the most recent example of what it would take to have an Empire on a GALACTIC scale. On that level, their take on the subject is unchallenged and unmatched.

Books and Novels

Other sources of inspiration come from old stories and novels, such as the work of A. E Van Vogt (more specifically the novella “The Monster [a.k.a. Resurrection]” published in 1948. There is also the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs [mostly the Barsoom series] who are still a great source of inspiration for me.

Another writer is Edmond Hamilton who happens to be the writer of one of my childhood hero Capitaine Flam [Captain Future in English]. I didn’t make the link between both of them until a few years back. At the time my favourite story by him was “the Dead Planet”, which I read as part of an anthology. It was when I started to do my research for this current work that I came to the realization of who he was and de facto gave me a greater respect for the man and his work.

Of course, there are many other writers whom I can name here but let just say it will be easier to simply read about them in my Bibliography section of my blog. However, I can’t end this part of my reasoning without talking about one of the most influential piece of science-fiction to me: Perry Rhodan.

Perry Rhodan is a German science-fiction serial novel that started in 1961 and still going strong today. The brainchild of Karl-Herbert Scheer and Clark Darlton, their story started with the first venture of man to the moon and ended up pitching our hero onto a massive galactic background. Right from the beginning, the series had beam weapons, jump drives, teleportation, psychic powers, alien [both humanoid and not], positronic brain, robots, a dying galactic empire, etc. If one thing could define the series, it is the scales of things: EVERYTHING is done on an epic scale. Going from ships that vary between 800 metres and 2.5 km, to planet size arsenal and factories, to engineering on a galactic scale … everything is HUGE. Trust me, what could be a better source of inspiration if you want to do an epic space opera than the grandfather of the genre?

Out of my French side, there are also two little-known writers that I really enjoyed and have influenced my work: Frank Dartal and P.-J. Hérault. Frank Dartal, on which I could barely find any information at all, wrote stories in the 70s and 80s that are still readable by today’s standard … which is quite an achievement if you think about it. The second, P.-J. Hérault, impressed by his profound humanity and his love for flying which he managed to infuse all of his work.

Games

As I mentioned earlier, two games that I plan to use as a source of inspiration and, also I might also include elements of both in my story. The first one is another computer game by Binary System and the other is Galactic Empires, the collective card game by Companion Games.

Starflight … back in the late 80s that game was one of the best in the genre. Part action, part quest, part exploration and part business … but most important, 100 percent fun. Back then, it is quite poetic to have a ship for which you had to hire the right crew and be sent on a mission to find the cause that makes your sun going nova. As you explore the space around you, collecting minerals and clues, meeting aliens and fighting some implacable enemies, until you find the culprit and destroy it. As I said, 100% fun! However, it was in their sequel, Starflight 2, that Binary System lifted the veil on some of the questions that were left unanswered in the first game. Mainly who were the Uhlek and where they came from. This origin story game me the idea of a great antagonist, a Sauron or Galactus type of antagonist that may, one day come to threaten all life in the galaxy, if not the universe itself. Lastly, because the game was so good, I might include some of their alien races in my story. The beauty of it all is that it will mix perfectly to what I want to write and it will not contradict what was already published in Master of Orion. But don’t worry I’m still very far from that goal and I do not even know if I’ll ever reach that point … as it stands right now.

This brings me to the second game: Galactic Empires. This game came out in the wake of Magic the Gathering card game. However, although well thought the game never really took off. However, they had some great ideas in it. Because of this, I intent to use some of them in my story. More specifically things like spatial phenomena, some space creature, a few strange planet and, of course, some alien races. Among those are the Krebiz Capitalist Alliance, the Indirigan Tribes [space nomads] and but not least, the Space Dragons.

What? Space Dragons? Well, since there was a space dragon event in the very first Master of Orion, I thought it could be nice to reintroduce them in my story … but I intent of tweaking them to make them a bit more … galactic!

That said, there are also numerous movies and TV shows that I could name but I need to conclude this so…

In conclusion, the main reason why I’m doing this is to give a canvas for my creativity and a means to keep my sanity. In the last few years, I came to realize that one of the reasons I was not happy at my work was the simple fact that I had no venue for my creativity. The day-to-day work only serves to grind my mind and personality into dust. That if I didn’t do something fast I was running the risk to see my soul die! And because the feeling of being useless and powerless can kill a man as surely as a gun or cyanide would be the main motivation for this story.

I am not looking for fame or fortunes. I just want to write and tell a good story that will entertain you and make you dream a bit… If you like what I wrote and make you want to know more … then I have reached my goal.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Come on board, the journey is about to start and, I hope, it will be amazing.

Alain Vollant.

#Why #Orion #MOO #Writers Notes.

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framedepth · 7 years ago

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A Defense of Iron Man 2

With the world currently preparing to probably be somewhat “whelmed” by the upcoming mega-crossover Avengers: Infinity War, I, like most of the film-viewing planet, have been re-watching the Marvel oeuvre in order to enter the correct headspace to really take in what that movie is going to be. The product of a ten-year long waiting game that most audiences have been more than happy to play, built on the foundation of a 2008 film that set the film industry on a path that we’re still going to be following another ten years from now. I’m still early into this project of sitting on my couch and reliving so many memories of speculating with high school friends about what superhero the next end-credits scene will tease, and it has already given me some shocking realizations: the first Iron Man is still the best Marvel movie, Captain America: The First Avenger isn’t the rollicking, Indiana Jones-esque adventure classic I remembered it being, and, maybe most shocking to even the biggest Marvel fans, Iron Man 2 is still just as good as I thought it was when I was 16.

I so often see it ranked in the bottom five of the Marvel listings, and because it has been a few years since I watched it incessantly following the Blu-Ray release, I figured it was a movie that just hadn’t aged well when compared to the more recent Marvel works. Despite my loving it upon release, I never argued for its merits when people declared it the “worst Marvel film”, or “boring”, or “meandering”. I’ve been a life-long Iron Man fan, first of him as a character in video games before getting into the many, many trade paperback collections of his solo comics. My obsession with Tony Stark made me completely eat up anything Marvel Studios put out featuring him until recent years, when I had the realization during my first screening of Captain America: Civil War that I didn’t care that I was seeing Iron Man in a movie anymore. And I realized I hadn’t cared when I saw the Hulkbuster in Avengers: Age of Ultron either. I enjoy both movies fine, but Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark doesn’t give me that same jolt of excitement he did just a few years previous. It could be a writing or performance issue, but I think the real reason is that Tony Stark has stopped growing as a person in any kind of believable way. When taking a look back at the first two Iron Man films, and from my memories of the third, Tony used to feel like a real person that had real issues to overcome.

2008′s Iron Man showed us a man being forced to experience all of the damage he has been causing the world first-hand, and being broken by this. When he emerges from that cave in that armor, he is beginning the journey down a path to becoming a better person. Tony spends a lot of that movie being angry, of course at Obadiah Stane and the Ten Rings, but mostly at himself, for creating the monster that took the lives of Yinsen, his family, and nearly Tony himself. He failed to see that he inadvertently had been arming both sides of the war on terror, taking money from both the military industrial complex and the terrorists that kill young American soldiers, and spending that money on alcohol and sex. That rage is what fuels Tony in that film, and allows him to purge Stark Industries of Obadiah Stane, the first steps into making up for the terrible things he has been doing for his whole life.

Thinking this is enough to be a better person, Tony reverts back to some of his old ways, but now equipped with the Iron Man armor and a whole new level of fame he didn’t even know was possible. This is where we begin Iron Man 2, where he is once again bragging about how he has achieved peace through his designs, and reveling in the fact that he has the press and the public groveling at his feet. It is no question then that he and Pepper Potts have gone back to their familiar dynamic as well, as he is not yet ready for that level of commitment to anything. He is also drinking more than he ever has before, a characteristic that his comic book counterpart had been known for best before any sort of film adaptation came around. Alongside all of this toxic behavior is a handy plot-device of the palladium core in his arc reactor poisoning his blood, which gets worse as his attitude and decision-making does. Of course, the higher the percentage gets, the crazier his decisions and personality become, as he tries to comes to grips with his imminent death, creating a sort of feedback loop that causes things to spiral for him. This is where Tony starts to become aware of the other parts of himself he must purge if he is to complete the journey he began when he stomped out of that cave in that hulking grey armor.

If this weren’t already too much for Tony to deal with, the movie also introduces one of the roots for the various character flaws Tony has under his belt, his father Howard Stark. A mixture of Walt Disney and Howard Hughes, Howard Stark is first introduced as a genial, smiling older man standing next to a model of “the city of the future”, putting on his best face for the American public. But he is later referred to as a “lion” by the Justin Hammer, and as a “thief” and a “butcher” by Ivan Vanko. Like Tony, Howard had a duel life, one as a cheery hero to the common man and another as a death dealing weapons manufacturer. He never got around to being a father to Tony Stark, who was following in his exact footsteps right up until the shrapnel entered his chest. But in a video revealed to him by Nick Fury, Tony sees that Howard went through the same struggle of identity, and also had to come to grips with all of the terror and pain that he has unleashed upon the world. Howard’s method for redeeming his incredibly spotty legacy is Tony himself, and leaves him a secret within the Stark Expo floorplans in an attempt to rebuild the world he once helped destroy. Similarly, Tony realizes that his gift to the world is Iron Man, but has been wasting that gift on himself. This is of course all mixed in with Hammer and Vanko making plays against Stark, as well as Black Widow being set-up for her inclusion in the rest of the franchise.

All of that would be well and good, except for the frustrating fact that not a lot of these very disparate and seemingly unrelated plot threads are not fully resolved till later movies or just not picked up at all. Tony’s drinking comes to a head in this film in a scene in which Tony pilots the suit drunk in order to appease a house full of partygoers and nearly decapitates a few with a repulsor beam, but this is seemingly glossed over by a fight he has with Rhodey minutes later. He experiences no real consequences for being an out of control alcoholic, and it still has not been addressed as of Civil War, and I highly doubt it will come to pass in either of the Infinity War movies. It really seemed to be the big emotional climax that the first two films were building to, the final “demon” that Tony would have to conquer on his road to betterment. Instead, he receives a much needed humbling moment when he enters the wormhole at the end of The Avengers, and sees that the universe is much grander than he anticipated. That continues the arc of his personality issues and carries into Iron Man 3, and we see a much more cooperative Tony from thereon out. Iron Man 3 completes his identity crisis by proving to him that he is not overshadowed by his work, either good or bad, like he fears he will be in that cave in the first film, and showing that he still has things to offer the world despite just being “a man in a can”. The less said about what Age of Ultron and Civil War do for Tony’s character, the better. At this point, his character is completely dependent on what the plot needs it to be. I have already forgotten much of what he does in Spider-Man: Homecoming, but I do remember thinking the mentor role serves him well.

So why defend Iron Man 2 if it fails to deliver on the plots it sets up? Mainly because it dares to address these things in the first place. The only other movies in the Marvel canon to come close to the level of introspection Iron Man 2 attempts to do are Iron Man 3 and Black Panther. The moments we see of John Slattery’s Howard Stark are eye-opening in terms of Tony’s character, and show that he does have something to relate to his father over. The many attempts to recreate the Iron Man armor show Tony that what he thinks is the ultimate arbiter of peace by way of obsolescence is just the opening of a can of worms that may lead to the next arms race. It asks if Tony Stark can truly overcome his immoral past, or if he is doomed to be the leader on the world’s ultimate path to the apocalypse, despite what his intentions may be. That’s not a question that gets asked in your more typical Marvel fare, which many people still claim this movie is.

Secondly, while there are of course things to tear apart story, character, and performance wise in some areas, the action and effects are top notch. Black Panther this year showed how bad VFX can be in blockbusters, but that is not something Iron Man 2 suffers from, even eight years out. While it is infuriatingly short, watching Iron Man and War Machine fight the Hammer drones works as pure spectacle, to say nothing of the entire chase sequence that precedes it. There have been of course better action sequences out of Marvel since then, but it has been a very close race with the climax of this film always in the discussion for me.

Lastly, Sam Rockwell’s performance as Justin Hammer makes it a true tragedy that he no longer seems to be a part of the MCU in spite of the fact that he is one of the few Marvel villains to survive the entire run-time of a film. He does make a brief cameo in the short film All Hail the King, but it is not nearly enough for what he deserves. Rockwell was in the running to play Tony in the first film, and it’s not too hard to imagine an alternate universe where we see a pre-shrapnel Tony acting very similarly to Hammer in this film. In different moments he can be smooth, buffoonish, intimidating, and weaselly. He deserves to return in Iron Man 4 (if we are ever blessed enough to receive one) for the dance he does onto the expo stage alone.

I’m not calling for a complete critical re-evaluation of Iron Man 2 in order to establish it as one of the best films of the decade or anything, I just wanted to call attention to the fact that there seems to be more going on in the movie than people give it credit for. It of course doesn’t hold a candle to its predecessor, but it does shine some lights on Tony’s character that would have been extremely fascinating threads to follow had things gone differently with the franchise. My only hope is that Infinity War cares enough to make it seem as though Tony Stark is a real person again.

#iron man #ironman #marvel #movies #film #film essay #superhero #robert downey jr #rdj #gwyneth paltrow #don cheadle #mickey rourke #infinity war #avengers #infinitywar #civil #war #civil war

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