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#when i first saw the movie i was like an early teen and it destroyed me emotionally
szczekaczz · 1 year
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maryversusthemovies · 1 month
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Steve Albini
This is going in the Mary Vs. the Movies newsletter, but I wanted to post it here too:
Steve Albini passed away yesterday.
When I was young, I religiously read critics. I didn’t know most of their names, but I would read as many album and film reviews as I could, whether Rolling Stone and Spin or the Philadelphia Inquirer at my junior high library, or whatever magazines or alt weeklies I could get my hands on at Zerns’ Farmers’ Market. I saw critics as they wanted to be seen—as guides, as teachers who would tell me what was good and what should be avoided. (I avoided Teenage Fanclub’s Bandwagonesque for years because Rolling Stone only gave it two stars—this should’ve been my first clue, I get angry just thinking about it).
So when Nirvana’s In Utero came out, the critical response, as far as I experienced it at the time, was “this is unlistenable noise, and it’s all Steve Albini’s fault.” Now, I didn’t know who he was, but I loved Nirvana. In our review for Over the Edge I mention the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video, and I don’t think I can overplay just what a liberation it was to see a band destroy a school when I was twelve. For this and other reasons, Nirvana was very important to me, and I was deliriously excited for a new Nirvana album. And here people were saying “this is garbage”. Well, I thought, how bad could it be? “Heart Shaped Box” sounds good, right?
I couldn’t understand what the critics were talking about—this sounded great. It didn’t have that shiny ‘90s Butch Vig sound, sure, but it wasn’t unlistenable. (By now I had found The Velvet Underground & Nico, so at least “European Son” had prepared me for what noise rock might be.) If anything, I realized I loved In Utero more than Nevermind because of the noise. It was an early lesson in not blindly listening to critics over my own gut. 
Now, here I am, more than thirty years later, a (kind of) film critic. I’m not saying don’t listen to critics—I still read them, still look for insights. But I definitely don’t prioritize them over my own reaction to a work of art itself. And realizing that the critics can be wrong because they didn’t like how Albini recorded this album, it was a huge lesson for me, long before college or anything tried to teach me critical thinking.
Anyway, after that, I found out Albini had a hand in so much music that I loved—the Pixies and Breeders, Superchunk, P.J. Harvey. And that’s just when I was 14, I’d since gone on and gotten into everything from Silkworm to the Wedding Present to Joanna Newsom to Low. He was the first engineer—I won’t call him a producer, I promise—whose work I actually cared about. (Sure, later I would find out about Phil Spector, but my god if he isn’t the anti-Albini, so the less said the better.) And I know this isn’t even touching his own music with Big Black or Shellac.
When Dennis and I first started going out, he brought up Albini’s article “The Problem with Music”, specifically talking about how the industry squeezes and gaslights artists, waving thousands of dollars in front of them and whittling away at the pile until the band is left with essentially nothing. It informed the way we both kick against being tied down to any kind of boss, at least when it comes to any creative output we make. Even if someone came to us tomorrow and said they wanted to sign us to their podcast network (a thing that won’t happen anyway, given how the media bubble has burst), or sign Deth Elf, my gut reaction would be “no”—we’ll always be small, and we’ll never be professionals, but we’re doing what we do because we love it, and we want control over it. And maybe that’s shooting ourselves in the foot, but at least it has a kind of honesty.
I know people who knew him, and I can’t imagine the loss their feeling right now. I’m just someone who listens to the radio a lot. But my god, my life would be so much poorer if he hadn’t been there shaping music for the last forty years.
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whitedahlia13 · 1 year
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Are you nervous for the Teen Wolf movie at all? And best and worst case scenarios running through your mind in terms of Stydia?
I wouldn’t say I’m nervous about the movie. More like I’ve been trying to avoid it as much as possible. From what little I’ve gathered, the cast is too big, the plot is been-there-done that, and it’s probably more of a backdoor pilot for the highly unanticipated spin-off.
Early last year, I had another ask about the movie. Writing my response was probably the most thinking I’ve done about it since. Anyway, I mention it because your question reminded me of it, and when I saw the post date, I almost couldn’t believe we’ve had the "threat" of this movie hanging over our heads for more than a year.
After 6b, the bar is already set very low. I guess my best-case scenario is that there’s at least one mention that Stydia are still together and happy—not that we need Jeff Davis to tell us what we already know to be true. Worst-case scenario is anything that hints at Stiles and Lydia having an unhappy/cliché relationship or the implication that they’ve broken up. Until someone pointed it out to me yesterday, I hadn’t considered that one (or both) of them could be killed off. I think that’s unlikely, but I suppose anything is possible if JD really wants to try to destroy us.
He should know by now, he can’t. I for one, wouldn’t accept any of those things as canon. Because I still hold to what I said in that first ask: Teen Wolf ended with 6x10. Stydia are thriving and blissfully in love. Always will be. After SIX years of waiting for them to be together and a reunion that both stopped and started time, no two-hour movie can change that.
I mean... LOOK at them. You don't collide this perfectly and not stay together for eternity 🧡💙
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(Stydias when the movie was announced.)
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artemisbarnowl · 2 years
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Had a dream that has been weighing on me for like a week. It's long and I'm on mobile so no read more sorry mi amores.
I went to a big party for some guy I used to know (friends with someone I dated way back) and like EVERYONE I used to know that way was there. All the friends you lose when you split with someone and/move interstate. It's been 10 years or more since I seen them so no gruges just nostalgia. I say hello to most of them at the party and organise to see them all for proper catch ups in the next week or so. I see my first ex glowering in a corner, and someone else mentions they haven't fought with him since we stopped dating. I think all men have the emotional maturity of a weasel ball.
I go to meet long lost friend #1 at an old Italian bakery but it's been attacked? The police pick me up and ask if I knew old friend was Running an Operation??? Friend is dead??And owned the bakery???? And has willed it to me???
They ask why I think it's been willed to me and because i am cool and suave in dream movies I recognise that it's probably because he knew I have no beef and giving it to me takes the bakery out of The Game. No one can come to me to get revenge. I didn't know I was going to inherit so i have no motive. They let me go. The bakery is a lovely old building so i set about restoring it. My sister is very jealous but likes to hear about the progress.
I see more old friends over time and catch glimpses of the men being Up to Something. The women (wives and girlfriends) whisper about it when we catch up, sometimes at my bakery. Why are all the men I used to know a small business owner in some sort of mob? Most of them are too dumb for that to work surely??
I'm older and wiser now so I spend more time with the women I know as a teen or in my early twenties than the men I knew then. The ones that are partnered with the same ones I knew back then are bored, and have started to realise there is more than their my-first-gangsta boyfriend can offer them. I start get togethers in the shop. Art classes, book club, repair cafes occasionally, for these women I used to know, as a space to find themselves and what they like.
Turns out the bakery was just the beginning and I wandered into the start of some sort of mob political drama war with the birthday party being the catalyst for some reason. I catch up with the men I used to know as boys who are now doing some sort of crime (I'm not convinced it's over much more than Pokemon cards but still. Perhaps I, cool and suave Old Friend, can learn more and persuade them to go to tafe or something instead).
This works to varying degrees and the ones I get to know better seem to be targeted in the war. Everyone points fingers at everyone. Now the police know something big is up they look very closely at each business and crime scene. It takes time for wills to be followed but months later there's gossip about what happens to them now and the common attitudes seem to be that they're still tied up with police and lawyers, or some poor retiree parents get them and don't know what to do with them because they live on the coast and are mourning their son and don't know what to do with a half destroyed cigarette store. Some of the women think families are being smart by not telling anyone what's been inherited to avoid revenge plots. Even if their families are obviously not in whatever mob things is going on. Since it didn't exist when we were in school together.
I tell no one, not my sister, not my partner, not my mum, I have been willed more properties. After each death I am questioned as a contact, they ask why I am willed a business and building (and sometimes houses) from people I haven't seen in a decade and then have long lunches with a few times. I don't know. Perhaps they all saw like first friend did that I'm neutral and it seemed safe. I wonder how long it will be until I can restore the promising ones (theres a laundromat that has good vibes and could use a coat of paint and some steep discountd, and a cafe in a victorian aged building which is lame but could be excellent) and sell everything else to new owners without them being in danger. There's one cop that seems angrier and angrier each time I'm questioned about inheritance. I didn't do anything, I still don't know much about whatever these dudes were into and I don't know any of their People. I couldn't have gotten them to do the attacks without me and I was busy (I still work as a science communicator and travel for work and to visit my partner?) . There's no evidence I was preparing to inherit properties or spoke to lawyers about inheritance laws or anything. I keep running book club etc there's still no idea about who is attacking who and why. Territory was seperate but respected before the party. There were agatha Christie level old grievances that all weighed the same but weren't ever enough on their own to warrant something like this. All the old grievances were with different alliances so no one could band together to take someone else out without risking retaliation or betrayal. Someone mentions my first ex is angry for unknown reasons, but everyone knows he's an idiot so they think all he'll do is posture or get arrested. One of the women jokes I should go see him so he's shut up for good. It's not a good joke. Even if she doesn't know how terrible he was. But now someone has made the connection that it's the ones I have tried to re-know that are hurt. Some of the women are scared, some posit I'm sleeping with them to be mean but can't say why I would do that or what I'd get out of it. Most think this is all silly and how could I have anything to do with a business I didn't even know existed until they hinted it to me. This biggest concern in my brain after all this is that i don't think I can tell these women I'm bisexual, they won't think it's real or they'll think I'm hitting on them. Also that im a crazy feminist who barely thinks men are worth my time. I keep doing wine and book night. Macrame night. I wonder if I can test the theory of me making friends with someone in the business gets them killed. I wonder if that makes me evil.
Then my current partner's work is burnt down. It's a hospital, no one in this mob thing works there or knows someone who does. There are plenty of injured people but since everyone is trained to the teeth in evac procedure there are no deaths. It's a hospital so it's on the news and everyone is saying 'who could do such a thing' but don't make the connection to their little mob war. The joking woman at lunch was right, these places were attacked and people died because my ex didn't want me to have any friends. It took them a while to find out about my relationship now since we don't live together and there aren't really overlapping people in their lives.
The cop who gets angrier and angrier is being paid off, he's angry because even though ex is trying to 'punish' me I keep winning?
The Business, whatever it is, has all but fallen through. There a handful left but they don't have power together and as individual groups of like 10 idiots they aren't really effective on their own. Nothing really changes. My awake brain thinks it must be NFTs or something idiotic with these guys just playing dress up.
In dream i am trying to think of a way to kill my ex. I'm partial to all the 'accidental' poisonings, Or falling off ladders that happened before divorces were legal. But the cop knows my ex is watching me. He knows the hospital fire wasn't unrelated to this mob stuff. If he dies I will be suspect number one. I know I am smarter than my ex though. I can make something look like an accident I'm sure. Maybe he's on medication that can't be mixed with something? His wife is nice enough and comes to the bakery but hasn't really warmed to me, she won't give me anything knowingly. His work isn't really dangerous, he's a real estate agent and most likely to die in a road accident. Not easy to orchestrate. Any olive branch offer to meet up will work out better for him I'm sure.
I'm busy gardening and I'm glad he's dead. Its hot and I have to finish getting these new plants in the ground before I go inside. We need the empty plastic pots at the bakery. I wake up before I know how I killed him.
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pin-crusher2000 · 12 days
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Earth-66 Origins: Robert Long
Robert Hinckley Long was your normal five year old toddler. With bright curly blond hair & bright beautiful blue eyes, he was a perfect baby between his mom Donna Troy, the superhero know as Wonder Girl, & his father Terry Long, a normal guy who is causal Photographer (in my universe).
However, like some parents, things aren’t always perfect; Donna & Terry were getting a divorce due to Donna’s actions of being a superhero: putting her love ones in danger, and always away from the family. When Terry took his son away from Donna, it was the very last time Donna saw her lover, when one day, changed her & most importantly, her son’s life forever.
It was around 5-6pm when the sun was beginning to set, Terry was driving in his SUV with his son Robert in the car seat in the back with his half-sister Jennifer, heading back to his house after a trip to the movies. When suddenly, a deer appeared from the woods, causing terry to swerve off the road & down the hill where his car started to crash & tumble down.
The car was in shambles: windows were broken, doors were destroyed, airbags were deployed & there was two dead people, covering in blood & glass shards. However, Robert himself was perfectly ok besides some scars on his face, he cried out of terror before passing out of exhaustion.
Years later
A group of bank robbers has successfully stolen large stacks of money & put it on a table in an empty & broken house that they use for safety. When suddenly a young boy with blond curly hair, blue eyes & a small scar underneath his left eye bust through one of the windows wearing a red shirt with a white star, black pants with stars, & armor gauntlets on his wrist with a orange glowing lasso on his side.
The young boy then beats up the goons very painfully as one of them got kicked in the crotch (don’t worry the robbers balls are ok just super sore XD)
There was one goon still standing when the young boy uses his lasso to tie up his victim.
Goon:”w-what is this?!” The goon cried out.
The Little Warrior:” This is the lasso of humiliation, under my command you will tell me the most embarrassing thing you have done.”
Goon: “g-gah! I-I accidentally farted real loud next to my crush back in school!”
The Young Warrior: (giggles) “that’s funny, now time for your butt kicking Fart face!”
The young warrior then blows a raspberry at the goon & then roundhouse kick him in the face.
The young brave boy is actually Robert Long, son of Donna Troy: The Wonder Girl of the Teen Titans. He tied up the goons & waited for the police to arrived to arrest them. He was on the roof sitting when he took out a picture of a young adult with blond hair & beard: it was his dad terry.
Robert: “I miss you dad, I miss you everyday.” He kisses the photo & puts it back into his pocket & went home for the night. The end.
Notes:
Terry Long is a very controversial character in the teen titans lore, so here is some rewrites to make him more pleasant.
He is in his mid twenties (25-26) instead of late twenties & early thirties.
He is a full time middle school teacher (let’s say 6th grade history teacher) & has a hobby for photography, this is how he met Donna for having similar interests.
He did have a bio daughter (Jennifer) around 18/19 with his first girlfriend (wife in comics) they spilt like in the comics too.
He is least flirty (he might say your pretty, but not as pretty as my Donna)
He & Donna spilt the same way: always doing superhero work, putting him & Robert in danger, turning his backyard into a training ground etc.
Now for Robert
His mom (plus “aunts”) started training him around age 7/8 with different types of butt kicking & weapons.
He has a good relationship with his mom until his early to mid teen years when he dicovers why his parents spilt: cause of his mom’s superhero work, learning that weakens the relationship between them. But he soons rebuilt that relationship overtime.
He is in a duo with Jake Grayson, his best friend & boyfriend (got together around when he entered puberty; age 10-12) called: Wonder Warriors/Wonder Twins.
He wears a magical bracelet to disguise himself (he’s the same in & out of costume, it tricks people psychologically)
Preoutfit: a blue shirt with the Wonder Woman symbol on the front, knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, & a spartan mask (with a blue feather) to protect his identity. (7-9)
First outfit: mention above in origins. (10-present)
Any questions, comments, or concerns? Let me know! ;)
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Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (109): Thu 30th Jun 2022
33 years old. Fucking Hell how did this happen? When I was a teenager I thought that the decade long run-up to 40 would be absolutely soul destroying but at the moment it's not preying on my mind at all. Even though my body feels like shit I still feel like the same person I was when I was 13, I do not feel like an adult at all. I only wish that I didn't piss away my late teens / early 20's because I much prefer the reclusive, hobby indulging lifestyle I have now. The day got off to a good start as I won £20 on a scratch-card so that was the next fortnight's petrol sorted out right from the get go. Then the day took a slightly surreal turn as I looked out of my bedroom window and saw that there was a lady waiting outside the chemists and she had a pig on a lead. She'd taken a pig with her to the chemist. I'm assuming that she lives on a nearby farm because someone living in a house, though not impossible would still be majorly fucked up. Maybe she thought she was buying one of those micro pigs that turned out to just be a piglet. If I was her friend then as a prank every time I went over there I would secretly feed the pig a vindaloo so that it would do enormous shits all the time. Later in the afternoon Dad and Lauren came by to wish me a happy birthday. They had just come from the cinema where they took my Nana Jenny to see the new Elvis movie but she was complaining about the previews and the size of the screen and they had to leave after a few minutes. Hilariously Jenny was worried that there would be an enormous line outside the cinema to get in. She's 81 and hasn't been to the cinema in quite some time and so doesn't know that cinema queues aren't really a thing any more. Also Dad told me that she was complaining that she didn't have a souvenir from the cinema to show the other residents at the nursing home. When Dad asked why she wanted a souvenir and why she couldn't just tell the other residents she went to the cinema she replied "Well they might not believe me". 45 minutes before my surfing leson I hadn’t had a call from them to say it had been cancelled for the third week in a row so I guessed that it was going ahead. I got there in good time and thankfully there was a place near the shack where I could park my bike and didn't have to pay in the parking meter. Annoyingly we had to wear those wetsuits which take about 10 minutes to get into. I was hoping that we'd get to do the lesson in just shorts because in one of those suits it feels like an anaconda is squeezing the life out of me. Also because I'm so morbidly obese at the moment, in a wet suit I kind of resemble a killer whale and I was a bit worried that another killer whale might try to bump me. For today's lesson I was being instructed along with three other people who'd never surfed before either. We went over the basic technique of getting up on the board and then headed into the water. The most difficult thing for me at the moment is timing how long it's going to take for a wave to hit the board as that's when you're supposed to start paddling. To my surprise I managed to stand up for a good 5 seconds after only a few attempts. I was obviously a bit wobbly when trying to stand up straight and was in awe of how quickly the instructor was able to do it. There wasn't a tremendous amount of waves today but waiting for the perfect wave is a really tranquil experience rather like fishing (I imagine as I've never been fishing. I sat in the dark one with a flashlight shined on the floor in order to attract a moth that I planned on trapping with a bowl I was holding, that's about the closest to fishing I've gotten), you can be there for minutes at a time waiting for the right wave and when it finally hits you get a bit of a rush. The one thing that marred this experience was this one guy who was next to me for the entirety of the lesson and would not shut the fuck up. The first thing he said to me after introducing himself was "I've been in a psychiatric ward for the last six months" and I thought "Oh fucking great, this guy's gonna be tones of fun. Don't get me wrong I have nothing but sympathy for people with mental health issues but it just seems really fucked up that this was the second ever thing he said to me. Like he thought "Okay I've told this stranger my name, now's enough of the formalities, I think I know him well enough to give him a glimpse into my mental health struggles". Things didn't get better after this as while we were chatting and waiting for the waves to come he asked me where I worked and I told him amazon he said "That's great. Amazon rule the world don't they?…them and the Jews". Urgh. I didn't mind when he was just a psychopath but now he's an anti-Semitic psychopath that somehow just tips it over the edge. Why the fuck would anyone say this to someone they'd only just met? Even if he actually believes it then did it never occur to him the person he's saying it to might be Jewish, I not but he didn't know this. I should have said "I'm Jewish" to the guy after he said that to make him realize what a social faux pas he just made. I could have also pointed out that if the Jews ran the world they probably would have done more to stop the Holocaust but I just tried my best to stay away from him for the rest of the lesson. This was absolute bliss (The lesson, not the time spent with the Neo Nazi), even though it's really tiring it's also incredibly peaceful. I'm definitely going to make this a regular thing. I'm going to take lessons all the way through the summer and now I'll have an extra thing to look forward to with the arrival of each spring / summer as those months will be surfing months. I'll be honest I've had worse birthdays.
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writingwithcolor · 3 years
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Arab Character Joining Corrupt Superheroes, Police Parallels
Anonymous asked:
I’m writing a story with a Arabian diaspora main character. The story is about corrupt superheroes, and how they affect an oppressed superpowered minority. The main character is one of these superheroes, naively joining them in his teens believing he’s going to help people. Doesn’t help that his parents are having money trouble. Eventually he ends up fighting a superpowered crook, and gets a bystander killed.
1)I know portraying an Arabian character committing violence is a pretty touchy subject, even if accidental. Is there any way I can write this that makes it clear to the reader that the action itself is messed up without the unfortunate implication that Arabs are violent? 
2)A large part of the story is the MC’s parents reaction. They are loving parents, however after this incident happens, they are confused and ashamed. While they still love him, they temporarily cut ties with him. Eventually they reconcile and start to be a family again. In my research (they are diaspora Saudi Arabians), Family is very important and tight-nit. Shame towards the family is to be avoided at all costs. However I’ve also read that disowning a family member rarely ever happens. Is there a way to write this kind of narrative with respect to this aspect of Arabian culture?
Let us begin with some terminology.
- If a person is from Saudi Arabia, they are Saudi Arabian, or more commonly, Saudi. This is their nationality.
- They may or may not be Arab. Arab is an ethnicity. Not all Saudis are Arab. Not all Arabs are Saudi.
- Arabic is a language. Lots of people across the world who are neither Saudi nor Arab speak Arabic.
- Arabian on its own is a word used to refer to a specific breed of horses.
If you are referring to humans, you want to either say "Saudi Arabian" (both words) or “Saudi” to indicate nationality, or "Arab" to indicate ethnicity. If you’re looking to describe your character’s culture, you probably want to call it Saudi culture. (While grammatically correct, talking about “Arab culture” doesn’t make much sense because Arabs are an incredibly diverse ethnic group and there is no such thing as a single monolithic Arab culture).
Now for the first question. In my mind, the issue is less about the character committing violence, and more about the premise of the story and how it mirrors real-life oppressive structures. You have an organized group of superheroes who think they are doing good by fighting “crooks” but in reality are enacting systemic oppression upon a marginalized group. This immediately brings to mind police violence, racial profiling, and the way that policing in North America is used as a tool of white supremacy while glorified in propaganda as a force for good. Essentially, you are telling a story about a character who joins an oppressive policing force, enacts violence upon a marginalized group as a result, and (I’m assuming) eventually realizes that they are not, in fact, the good guys. This is very close to being a “bigoted character learns not to be bigoted” story. I recommend re-examining your premise in light of the real-life parallels and asking yourself whether this is the story you want to tell. 
The issue is compounded by the fact that your character is an Arab teen, who in real life is more likely to be the one facing racial profiling from the police. Taking this character and making him the oppressor in your story makes the already flawed premise even more problematic, especially if the characters in the oppressed group are white.
As for your second question, it seems believable to me that a teen’s parents might reject him if they learned that he committed a crime. However, when the family in question is Arab, you are suddenly feeding into harmful tropes about oppressive and violent Arab parents. You are asking if there is a way to write this respectfully. I believe that there is, but it requires a great deal of care, nuance, and cultural awareness. While it is possible to write a Saudi Arab character grappling with the consequences of violence and familial estrangement in a compelling way, the way your ask is phrased leads me to believe you are not equipped to do it justice. 
- Mod Niki
Think about why Arab people committing violence is a touchy subject, and then think about the general propaganda narrative that came about from the act that made things so touchy. 
It’s going to sound one hell of a lot like what you have here.
Military and police use buckets and buckets of propaganda to continue hooking in young, impressionable teens to commit state-sanctioned colonialism and oppression. That propaganda looks suspiciously like “we have health insurance, we will pay for your education, you just have to do what we tell you even if that means hurting or killing others, but it’s okay because you get to be the hero in the situation.”
Now, propaganda is a very powerful tool. I was taught, in my media classes, that controlling the message means shaping reality. The media is built as a propaganda machine, and when you start to see who owns what media properties you start to see some really disturbing patterns (Rubert Murdoch owns a lot of right-wing sources across America, the UK, and Australia, and he’s too rich to investigate his culpability in spinning terrible narratives found in right-wing publications. He owns the big names).
As Niki said, this situation mirrors police violence and police-sanctioned terrorism. And the very, very unfortunate implications of making the target of police violence be in that wheel. But I want you to look at the media situation that has made the plot happen.
Because even if you swapped out ethnicities, you’d still have a reckoning to do with the American culture that their primary social safety nets involve killing people.
I am not kidding.
Some of the most well-funded unions in the country are police unions. These people have pensions. They have health insurance. It’s damn near impossible to fire them. They get overtime very well mandated, and it’s a known thing among defence lawyers that arrests happen right before a cop’s shift will end so they get the overtime of filing the paperwork. They absolutely go into poor neighbourhoods and recruit based off people needing an escape, and them having the money to provide it.
A similar sentiment is true for the military, except they push for college education a bit more and don’t really have overtime, but they do have deployment bonuses. So the way to get extra pay for yourself is to go out and do colonialism outside the borders. The military doesn’t necessarily like it when the economy is doing well, and don’t like the idea of college being affordable, because they rely so heavily on poverty and fear of college debt to recruit. 
The story you’re telling here goes so far beyond an individual’s actions and instead taps into America’s single biggest cultural investment: that oppressing others makes you a hero. 
The Pentagon funds most military media out there as a propaganda tool, including most superhero movies and a large number of video games. This is in their budget. They will also go so far as to literally commission the games to exist. Part of getting that funding is you cannot critique America’s military, basically at all (the only exception I’ve seen is Ms Marvel, but that’s set in the 90s). This turns any sort of military-using media into a potential propaganda tool.
And the thing is? Even if you fall for that propaganda and were part of the military or the police, you still have to reckon with the fact you put whatever your own desires were above a huge track record of those groups being terrible. You still have to reckon with the fact you didn’t realize they were wrong, and were complicit in a lot of crimes.
This goes very far beyond “the action is terrible” and goes into “the system is rotten to its core, and you chose not to believe it, or to believe you could change what was built with blood.”
“Good” police officers get fired. If you try to question anything, if you try to say this action is wrong, you will absolutely get destroyed. Military’s much the same. You need some degree of buy-in to the concept of white supremacy to sign up for the military or the police, because you need to see their actions as not deal breakers instead of actions that violate multiple international laws. 
In short: you need to see the people being oppressed as deserving of being oppressed to some degree in order to participate with police and the military.
Marginalized people can hold this belief, it happens. But that is a very sticky situation that outsiders shouldn’t touch. 
It’s possible but difficult for you to write a white person having this sort of arc, but it would be extremely challenging to have it not come across as a white guilt story. To not have a socially aware audience roll their eyes at how long it took. You’d definitely not be writing a story with a diverse audience in mind, because you’d mostly appeal to those who saw the propaganda as just fine and not that bad.
This isn’t even getting into the oft-cited adage that boys who bully others become cops, while girls who bully become nurses. And the more police atrocities become mainstream news, the less and less people can convince themselves that becoming a police officer is a good thing.
Which brings me to the point of: how well-documented is this oppression? Is this character walking around in an oppressive situation like, say, pre-social-media where there was no direct access to the oppressed groups and you could close your eyes and look away even if it made national news? Or is this in a media connected world where these oppressed populations have a voice in the narrative?
The former has an angle of the character slowly realizing the horror and it’s slightly more forgivable for their early ignorance. But in any sort of world where there’s access to the people getting hurt? Things get more and more “ignorance is indistinguishable from maliciousness.” And keep in mind, these stories are read in the real world, where police brutality and war crimes go viral, and a lack of knowledge is getting harder and harder to defend as a position.
Media plays a huge role in shaping our perception of what’s happening. Cameras on a situation makes different activism tactics work, as we can see with how activism changed in the 60s and 70s as tv reached the masses. Social media has made it possible for you to look up firsthand accounts of discrimination within seconds. 
This is a factor you are absolutely going to have to consider, when you want to look at how nice your hero is seen by marginalized or otherwise socially-aware people. If there is a way to find out how bad this superhero organization is before you sign a contract with them? Then that doesn’t look particularly good on the “hero”. You’d really have to establish them as super idealistic, super sheltered, super desperate, and/or just swallow the knowledge that they really don’t see anything that happens “over there to those people” as that bad. 
All of the above is more than possible. And they’d still be seen as complicit no matter what justification you gave, because they are.
Does this mean all corrupt organization stories are off limits? No. The reason these stories have such deep cultural resonance right now is because of the propaganda I outlined above. 
But you as the author are going to have to examine your own engagement with the propaganda narrative and do your own private reckoning so your own sense of guilt and compliance doesn’t bleed through the narrative too strongly, so you can tell a good story instead of an overt message story that’s you working out your own feelings.
By all means, write a story where police and the military are taken down, where propaganda is weaponized and the media is controlled (because that’s sure as hell the modern world). 
But know that stories where the hero discovers the corruption already have a ticking clock because we, in the real world, are slowly being faced with a mountain of apathy instead of ignorance. The knowledge of oppression is out there so much that marginalized people are tired of the ignorance defence. 
As the saying goes, “privilege is the ability to ignore the oppression of others.” 
Propaganda, centralized media, and strategic cultural investment made it possible for police and the military to have a chokehold on their public perception. But that’s changing. The chokehold is starting to fade, people are starting to question their beliefs. 
The past year has shown that knowledge isn’t the issue; it’s white supremacy. People don’t want to believe that any of this is that bad. People want to believe that oppression is justified, that if people just followed the law they’d be fine. They don’t want to question themselves. And marginalized people are tired of these narratives where, suddenly, people snap out of it. Because there was so much evidence to show it was bad, but it was only when you do one of the worst crimes imaginable that you realize this is bad? It’s only when it becomes personal that things are worth looking at critically?
No. And you need to examine where you are in processing your own complicity before writing a story where you’ve swapped around the ethnicities to try and distance yourself from the problem, where in the end you made the target the oppressor.
~Mod Lesya
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therandomfish · 2 years
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Metal Lords: How to melt faces and make friends
Hi everyone, my name is Nick Braunton and I am a Randomfish. I am also a very huge fan of Heavy Metal, the genre not the film made in 1981. On Netflix they just released the film called Metal Lords. Holy crap that movie! I’ve now watched it multiple times and wow is it awesome. Starring Adrian Greensmith, Noah Urrea and Isis Hainsworth this movie centres around 2 dudes called Hunter and Kevin who are in a band called Skullfucker and they’re looking for a bassist for battle of the bands. How best to describe this movie? I would say it was School of Rock esque but that’s not even it. There isn’t a Jack Black character in this. It’s about a couple of guys and eventually the girl that joins them becoming a band and learning about the strength and the beauty of heavy metal. It’s the type of film that you wouldn’t of seen being made during the era where every religious leader, every overprotective parent and every head of school saw heavy metal as a genre something to be stamped out because it meant losing your children to a world of orgies and drugs and they were the ruling social class and therefore anything that threatened them or seemed to would be destroyed. This movie talks about the good things from the music genre, the idea of taking control, of living life your way despite what everyone else says and it’s about a love for the music, which was kind of what the metalheads where about anyway, the drugs and orgies were just a wonderful by product.
The acting in this is brilliant where we have Adrian Greensmith as Hunter the unapologetic yet well meaning metal head, Noah Urrea as Kevin, the nerdy best friend who becomes as metal as Hunter and Isis Hainsworth as Emily, the cellist who joins the band and ends up hooking up with Kevin. Each one of theses characters does have a cool arc they go on in this movie; Hunter learns to let go of wanting to push everyone away so no one will hurt him including his friends and family along with being a better friend to both Kevin and Emily. Kevin becomes more confident in himself and even has a moment where he’s playing drums for another band after he and Hunter fall out where he ends up in a hot tub with a hot girl and she’s kissing his neck and he’s getting advice from various metal legends Tom Morello, Kirk Hammett, Rob Halford, and Scott Ian about being with a girl he actually likes or some random hot girl who may never speak to him again afterwards. Though I have to say I love Emily’s arc. She, much like the boys isn’t well favoured in the school social hierarchy and has to take meds in order to keep her anger under control and when she doesn’t she has outbursts which honestly I can totally relate to as I had moments of unbridled anger back when I was a teen too. She is shown to have a crush on Kevin pretty early on from when they first start speaking and is also the one to suggest that they start dating and everything else though she is very aware and doesn’t take things too fast for either of them. She and Hunter having a fight becomes the catalyst of Kev and Hunter’s fight in the film but we do see how Hunter can learn to compromise and be a good friend as opposed to being a complete dick all the time and he apologises for upsetting her and to Kevin too. But like I said all the actors are amazing, I highlighted the 3 main leads only but the whole cast does pretty brilliantly well.
If you’re not a metal fan because you genuinely can’t stand the genre then by all means never watch this movie because it is everywhere but if you’ve never really listened to metal before and might be even the least bit curious then I heartly recommend this film to help you get into this mighty genre of music. And if you are a fan then what the hell are you doing if you haven’t seen this yet? Go…. Watch it already!
Randomfish out
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Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (8)
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(c!Technoblade x fem!Reader)
(Still no Tech this time, please don’t be mad! But hey we’re in L’manberg now! That’s pog right? Plus we officially meet Wilb and Fundy! But remember y’all, if this chapter doesn’t do well then I can’t write chapter 9! So show chapter 8 some love!! <3)
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MOAR ART!
I tried drawing Reader! -> She.
And xoxoyukixoxo-art-dump on here drew her too! She looks so SICK! SHE!
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He’d been watching her for some time now. 
Not all day and night like some weirdo but he’d noticed instantly when she’d ‘logged on’ so to speak. The first thing to make him curious was him wondering how she arrived here in the first place, but when he tried teleporting to this new person it strangely hadn’t worked. He’d simply not gone anywhere, which was beyond puzzling. He should be able to teleport to anyone on this server. That little tidbit, the not being able to teleport to her, was the second thing to make him curious. So curious in fact that he spent a very long time just looking for her. When the ability to teleport to her was no longer an option he’d found searching for someone was much harder, but in the end he’d found her. And good lord was she a big one. Not taller than endermen or anything bigger but she definitely towered over the villagers she lived with.
He didn’t know how she ended up here since you needed an invite to be allowed on the server. And he knows she wasn’t invited, because he knows ALL the people who are invited. Hell, at one point he even tried banning her (an action which kicks players from the server) but… nothing had happened. He’d been hidden and watching her when he’d done it and she’d not even noticed, just kept on planting flowers around one of the villager’s houses without a care in the world.
He’d unbanned her and nothing changed again. Then he’d tried using other commands on her. Teleport, clear, give, and even Kill. Not a single one did anything. That made him nervous. He’d never encountered something like this before. It was unheard of. If this player decided to become hostile, or End forbid, GENOCIDAL… it would have very disastrous consequences for the other players on the server..
He decided then and there to monitor her deeply until further notice. 
Which turned into him popping up by her village and sneaking in to watch her and what she did day in and day out for a few months. And honestly.. She seemed pretty benign. 
All she really did was change up the village she lived in and decorate. When not doing those things she would do other hobbies like cooking and potion making. She’d also leave the village sometimes to just explore. He took those chances to go inside her home and snoop around. He also noticed aggressive mobs were pretty neutral towards her for whatever reason. That only ever happened if a player had a clear relation to a mob (aka a hybrid) or if the player had creative… Which it looked like she had. But she also didn’t look fully human.
“What a strange being you are..”
-0-
Before you knew it the next day had come, bright and early. 
You’d had to go back to the Overworld around sunrise to get ready to greet Tubbo. You’d explained to Azo that you’d try to come back as soon as you could but for now you had to go on a trip for a while. She was sad to see you go but said okay and to hurry back. Your heart broke all over again, feeling terrible that you had to leave her alone but there was nothing you could do. You’d bring her with you if it were possible but you knew her entering the Overworld would turn her into a zombie instantly. And that’s not a fate you’re willing to make anyone go through.
But you left her a chest with some golden carrots, some apples, and even some of the stew you’d made for Tubbo and Tommy. She liked the stew, so you left her a few bowls and even some juice to drink in case she got thirsty. You hugged her goodbye and told her you’d bring her a gift back. She nodded happily and then you sadly had to leave through the portal. Which you made sure to destroy after exiting it. Didn’t want anything wandering through. That would be a disaster. 
Once you were back in the overworld you went home and sat on your bed and just thought. More than anything you just wanted to step in and prevent Schlatt and Quackity from winning. But you didn’t know if doing that would have dangerous consequences or not. You’d seen so many movies where a small change in the past ends up having massive effects in the future. Damn butterfly effects. Stopping them from winning the election could end up causing a civil war within L’manburg. Or Tubbo, Tommy, or Wilbur could end up hurt or even lose a life. Or something even more devastating could happen. 
...But you hated the thought of Tommy and Wilbur getting exiled. It wasn’t fair or just. Especially while getting shot at and chased down like dogs. Schlatt and Quackity really pissed you off with that part. Seeing Ponk and Punz just instantly turn on the two original founders left you feeling utterly appalled. Schlatt hadn’t even been sworn in as president yet! He’d not taken an oath or anything! None of what he ‘decreed’ should have been taken as law! None of it was legal-
You pause. None of that WAS legal.. right? Did the citizens even know that? Were they aware that simply winning an election wasn’t the instant inauguration that Schlatt and Quackity made it out to be? Surely there was more to L’manburg than simply the bare bones parts that were shown on youtube in your original world. There had to be actual systemic structure for this whole ass small country. You wanted to believe there was, because the alternative made you facepalm. But at this point you honestly just didn’t know. You would need to have a discussion with Wilbur and Tommy (Wilbur more so since he was the adult in this situation).
You needed to talk to Wilbur asap.
-0-
Tubbo and Tommy came to get you bright and early, the blond looking more anxious than he was trying to let on. Seeing the usually so upbeat and grinning boy so nervous made your stomach churn. So you’d pulled him into a hug, not even letting him finish his greeting to you before you did. He went silent and was tense at first. But you took in a breath and said in as reassuring a tone as you could physically muster,
“Don’t worry kiddo. Things WILL be okay. I’ll make sure of it, alright?”
Tommy was silent, but you could hear the choked gasp of breath the boy took in, and you felt how his lanky body seemed to relax in your hold. He awkwardly put his arms around your back, seemingly not used to this, the whole hugging thing. At least not such heartfelt ones. He’s hugged Tubbo, Wilbur, and Philza but this one just felt different. It felt safer. Like if he stayed here nothing could hurt him. It was weird but.. nice. Part of the boy didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want to leave this new safe place. Here hugging you there was no fear of losing the election, no worries of wars with the DSMP, there was nothing bad. Just a pleasant warmth he felt like he could just fall asleep to.
But the bigger part of him knew he’d never hide away from his problems. It wasn’t who he was. He wasn’t some baby coward who hid behind mommy for protection when shit got tough. (missing how his subconscious referred to you as ‘mom’) He was a MAN! Nevermind he was barely 16! He was practically an adult (in his own eyes)! He’d fought in a war for independence! He���d battled for his and his countrymen’s freedom! There’s no way he’d cower away from this damned election! 
With a new fire in him, largely in part to the confidence you seemed to have for him and L’manburg, he eventually pulled back from the hug and gave you one of his signature bright grins. He said thanks but there’s no way he was worrying! Like you said, things were gonna be fine! You gave him an encouraging smile in return and agreed, then added that if anything DID go wrong you’d stick by them and make sure it all got resolved. The teens looked grateful for your support. But then you bid the villagers goodbye for now and told the iron golems to make sure to keep them all safe.
Then you three were off to L’manburg.
-0-
Walking into L’manburg was weird. You’d only ever seen parts of it via the videos you’d watched from the various minecraft youtubers. But being there in person was wild, seeing all the buildings and pathways was interesting though. Tommy and Tubbo changed into their ‘presidential attire’, which were just those vaguely old school British military uniforms they wore at the start of the L’manburg thing. You still ruffled their hair and cooed over them, saying they looked like official little men. They got all huffy and Tommy swatted your hand away, making you laugh. Tubbo suggested showing you around before the election began, which you thought was a good idea. So the pair escorted you around L’manburg, showing you the main places plus their houses and favorite spots. You gave Tommy a Look and asked him if he really lived in a dirt hut.
“It’s DIRT Tommy, not even cobblestone. Just a dirty dirt hut,” you said with a sigh.
Tubbo snickered while Tommy tried defending himself. But he honestly was just making excuses though thankfully he got cut off by Wilbur showing up. He was in the same uniform as both teenagers and you saw him giving you a wide eyed look as he walked up. You could tell he was used to not being around someone so much taller than him. Which you guess made sense since he’d been hanging out with teenagers, a girl, and his own son mostly. You think Dream is taller than him but you don’t know how often they’re around each other peacefully to notice height..
“Oh, hello, you must be Reader! Tommy and Tubbo have told me about you!” the brunet man said with a charming smile. 
You returned the smile and held your hand out for him to shake. He gave a firm handshake and you said he must be Wilbur and that the boys had mentioned him to you. He gave a sly smile to the two boys and asked if that was so, and said he hoped they’d said good things about him. Not liking his teasing tone Tommy cut in and said he told you about Wilbur being a bitch! You laughed and Wilbur punched Tommy in the shoulder, laughing when the boy loudly claimed he was abusing a child!
Wilbur rolled his eyes at the blond boy and asked what the occasion for you visiting his lovely country was. You gave a relaxed smile and said you just wanted to come out and support ‘big man’ and Tubbo on this exciting day! Wilbur smiled and perked up when Tubbo said they were giving you a tour of L’manburg. Wilbur asked why the shortest boy didn’t say so before and gestured for you to follow him, saying the best person to give a tour is always the president! You liked his charming enthusiasm but you could still see the nervousness just lurking under the surface for all three of them. You hated that their worry was justified. 
-0-
Wilbur took over showing you around, Tubbo and Tommy right behind him adding little comments here and there to irk him. You ohh’d and ahh’d at the polite times, even saying how cool the place was. You even got shown Wilbur’s ‘ball house’ and their extensive nether pathways briefly. You got a bit distracted in the Nether, wondering if Azo was okay. Though you supposed she was a tough kid, what with having survived in the Nether her whole life so far. But she was just a little kid, still a toddler. She shouldn’t have to survive. She should be living.
“And I guess that’s the whole tour! I hope we’ve given you a good impression of my country~” Wilbur said with a smile, thoroughly snapping your attention back to the present.
You were thankful they couldn’t see how your eyes widened when you realized you’d totally zoned out during the last leg of the tour. Instead of worrying you just gushed and said you’d been really dazzled! The trio grinned and you ruffled Tommy’s hair and said you could expect no less from the big man himself and sweet Tubbo. The pair were happy to hear you praising the country they’d worked so hard to have, with Tommy even playfully swatting your hand away from your hair and saying anything he helped with would be the best. Wilbur gave a very big brother reply of ‘oh really?’ that was dripping with doubt, which started to set Tommy off.
The two started going back and forth, causing you to roll your eyes. Yeah they definitely had the brother vibe about them. Though Wilbur lost interest in arguing when he spotted someone a bit aways behind you and Tommy. He perked up and waved, calling out ‘FUNDY!’ to get his son’s attention. You all glanced over to see a fox hybrid in a uniform that was the same as the boys around you, only the coloring was off. Fundy’s was more pastel colored while the others were darker/more saturated. Wilbur waved him over and you noticed the way Fundy’s muzzle scrunched up when Wilbur threw an arm around his shoulders, but you said nothing. Not really your place but from what you remember of the smp videos… Wilbur wasn’t the ideal father figure to his furry son..
“Fundy, this is Reader! She’s a friend of Tubbo and Tommy’s! She came to support us today,” Wilbur said with a smile.
The fox quirked an eyebrow at you and asked a mildly incredulous voice if your name was actually ‘Reader’. Tommy told him to shut up and pointed out that his name was ‘Fundy’ so he had no room to be criticizing anybody’s name. Fundy raised his paws in surrender and said fine, whatever, no need to jump down his throat about it. You chuckled and said it was okay, it was a rather odd name. And you liked his name, it was cool. Tommy actually boo’d you while Fundy smiled, glad at least someone stuck up for him. Though that reminded Fundy to ask Wilbur if he’d seen the ballots…
Wilbur’s mood darkened and he gave a clipped, “Yeah, I saw them.” His tone making the other L’manburg citizens feel uncomfortable. You spoke up, asking what was wrong with them? Had someone tampered with them or something? Fundy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck and said yes and no. Yes someone had changed them but it wasn’t really ‘tampering’, just altering to fit with the new campaign runners. She gave his upset father a side glance, his triangular shaped ears going back when he saw the way Wilbur’s eyebrows were furrowed and his jaw clenched. Seems the current president was still pissed off that his son and first lady had decided to run against him together..
“Well we had to change the ballots to include all the people running, and even an ‘other’ option… Yeah,” Fundy said lowly.
You couldn’t help the way you raised an eyebrow at that and said, 
“Isn’t that just the standard for ballots? Designing ballots to not show all the people their options would just be criminal.”
Wilbur didn’t seem to like your (in his opinion) unwanted input and said however L’manburg designed their ballots was none of your business anyways, especially since you weren’t even a citizen. You could feel yourself narrowing your eyes at the brunet, though nobody could see it, and replied that you didn’t need to be a citizen to point out that not putting all the names of those running on an ELECTORAL BALLOT was hugely unethical and borderline malicious hindrance to the citizen’s right to free choice. This little snit between you and the current president had dropped the mood low, with the three boys beside you looking more than uncomfortable. 
But thankfully Tubbo found his voice and before Wilbur could retort to your statement he turned to you and said the election and debate would be starting soon and that he’d sit in the audience with you. This reminded Wilbur that he needed to practice his speech and debate responses with Tommy so he straightened his posture and adjusted his coat before giving you a faux smile and then telling Tubbo they’d see him afterwards. You kept a polite smile on your face as the four led you to an open part of the village center where a large stage/platform had been built along with seating in front of it. Wilbur jerked his thumb towards the stage and told Tommy to come on and the blond boy said he’d be right there in a moment. The brunet looked put out but nodded and stalked off, leaving the four alone in the audience area.
Once he was out of earshot you turned to Tommy and gave him a disbelieving look and said in a hushed tone,
“Tommy, you and Wilbur weren’t ACTUALLY planning to tamper with the ballots were you?? That’s insanely unconstitutional! The people of L’manburg have a right to know and be able to choose whichever voting option they want. If they don’t have that option then it’s not a real election, it’s just the illusion of choice.”
The blond looked uncomfortable, sweating and avoiding eye lens contact with you. He felt ashamed because… well that HAD been the plan. At least Wilbur told him it had been before Quackity found out. He’d not been sure about the plan but he hadn’t done much to argue with Wilbur either. He’d convinced himself it wasn’t that big of a deal, but seeing how shocked and offended you looked that they’d even thought about doing that made him feel like a bastard. You saw how nervous he looked and sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing softly before reassuring him you weren’t angry.
“I’m not mad at you Tommy, I’m just disappointed that this was something you went along with. You have to know how wrong that was? Imagine you were a regular citizen and you voted in the election but later found out it was all rigged, you’d never had a choice regarding your country like you’d been led to believe. Wouldn’t you feel wronged?”
Tommy seemed to deflate at your words but gave a remorseful nod, neither of you noticing that your words seemed to have also struck a chord with both Fundy and Tubbo as well. You gave the blond boy a reassuring smile, saying that part of being a member of government was respecting the people’s choices. Even if you think it’s stupid and wrong. You have to let the people choose for themselves. The ability to choose is sometimes the only difference between merely existing on this bitch of a world and actually Living~
Tommy seemed to have taken your words to heart, making you smile at him before pulling him into a half hug and saying sincerely,
“I’m proud of you Tommy, Tubbo too. You’ve both done so much for this country. More than any child should ever have to. I wish more than anything that you’d not HAD to sacrifice and lose so much. But I’ll be here to support you both going forward. I just don’t want either of you doing anything unethical. You’re both better than that.”
Tubbo almost teared up and came over and let his face rest against your side in a show of affection. He’d never had anyone say they were proud of him before and honestly.. he didn’t know how badly he needed to hear it until you said it. Tommy leaned into your hug, close to tearing up like his best friend but he blinked rapidly until the tears faded.
None of them noticed the envious way Fundy stared at them, feeling jealousy bubble in his stomach at the way you seemed to care for the two boys. He felt childish for feeling that way but he couldn’t help it. You clearly cared about the two in a maternal way, that much was obvious. But you weren’t treating them like babies either. You were respectful and loving at the same time. Fundy wondered if that’s what it was like to have a mother..
“TOMMY! COME ON! THE RALLY STARTS SOON!”
They all broke away when they heard Wilbur yelling down at them from the podium. Tubbo sighed and Tommy straightened his hat before giving a cheeky smile. You told him to go give his best, and no matter what happened you’d be proud. This pumped the blond boy up and he gave a cheer before ruffling Tubbo’s hair and turning to the stage and running up around the side to get to the top, you and the brunet watching him go. That’s when you remembered the fox hybrid that was still standing close by. You offer him a calm smile and say kindly,
“So, Fundy was it?”
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tagged folks: @salinesoot​ @lady-bee-fechin​ @kacchasu​ @putridjoy​ @lunawritesstories​ @galaxypankitty3030​ @paradigmax​ @zachariethememerie​ @killmewithafanfic @trinity-1002107 @hufflepuff-demigod @truthdaze @exorcisms-with-elmo @redbloodtea @heythereimhaylz @olyink @jackalopedoodles @nikkineeky @artsimatsu @hufflepuff-demigod @corpiet @beepa99 @anxiousnarwhale @bananaaddictmilkshake
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ultrahpfan5blog · 2 years
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Retrospective Review - The Batman vs. Dracula
The Batman was a show that I didn't really watch as closely as I did with the DCAU shows. I think I was just a bit too attached to the DCAU version of the characters to give the new Batman show much of a chance. As a result, I feel The Batman is pretty underrated. The show is actually pretty good. I think it targets a slightly younger demographic. But it isn't like for very young kids. Its not quite as serious and dark as the BTAS and TNBA could become but it was at least around Teen Titans level. I particularly enjoyed the earlier seasons which dealt with a young Batman without Gordon, Batgirl, Robin helping him out, and the emergence of the classic villains. But I never watched The Batman vs. Dracula when it first came out. I think I saw bits and pieces of it when it aired on tv but never the whole movie. Having watched it full for the first time last night, I have to say its quite enjoyable.
The film is briskly paced. Because the story is very action based, the running time keeps the film moving and I was never bored. The animation quality is definitely a lot smoother with improvements in technology and the movie towards rnatural figure in Dracula. So immediately it distinguishes itself in a way. And it is pretty fun to see Batman genuinely as an underdog because he is so obviously outmatched. The story of the film is very straightforward, in that Penguin accidentally reanimated Dracula, who looks to take over Gotham by turning everyone else in Vampires. For a film based on a show aimed at kids, there is something fundamentally dark in the movie because we see innocent men and women turned into blood sucking mindless vampire minions.
The film is briskly paced. Because the story is very action based, the running time keeps the film moving and I was never bored. The animation quality is definitely a lot smoother with improvements in technology and the movie towards computer animation from the hand drawn animation of the DCAU days. While it may not have the personality of the animation of BTAS, the action scenes have got a sleeker sense of moment. The confrontations between Batman and the vampires and Dracula himself are fun. The early action sequence between Batman and Joker is also pretty good. There are also a few nice character beats for Batman. Like how upset he got when it seemed that Joker had gotten killed after their fight. Then, when Joker comes back later as a vampire, he does save him from his disease. I like that Batman is shown to be looking at a cure and not looking for an excuse to destroy the vampires.
There are some issues with the film as well. I was never a big fan of some of the character designs in The Batman. Joker is one I particularly didn't like. Penguin also is made to to have the flipper hands and pointy teeth, like an animal. There is also a very half baked romance angle between Bruce and Vicky. We are supposed to care when Dracula kidnaps her to use her soul to resurrect his wife because of Bruce caring for her, but there is no real development of that relationship beyond Vicky being fascinated in Bruce and them having had a meal together and then being together at the charity event at Wayne Manor when they meet Dracula for the first time. There are also a few inconsistencies in story. One of the obvious ones is that vampire Joker seems perfectly coherent and with a personality, while every other vampire victim is a mindless monster. No real explanation given for that.
The voice acting is good. For me, I always hold the DCAU voices as gold standard but that is not to say the voice acting is bad here. Rino Romano is a pretty good young Bruce. Doesn't have the gravitas of Conroy, but that's part of the point. Peter Stormare being an undercurrent of menace and creepiness in his portrayal of Dracula. Tara Strong is solid as Vicky, though I have a tough time disassociating her from her Barbara Gordon role. Tom Kenny and Kevin Michael Richardson give unique performances as Penguin and Joker. Alistair Duncan is a solid Alfred.
Overall, while this certainly doesn't rank high in the animated movie library, the film is fun and its worth watching, especially if you liked the show and its style. A 7/10 for me.
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orenonahaichigoda · 3 years
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More non-Ichigo character thoughts. This time, Rukia.
Sleving the ones who are actually permanently children for whatever reason completely unexplained at least before the novels, haven’t been following the novels. Like the Digimon Adventure universe movies, the only other cartoon I like on its own merit and not because it’s tied to my cartoon-loving dad who died of racially motivated fetishistic abuse against Asians, the same which most fandom exhibits, the Bleach novels seem like they’re mostly there to justify the poor rush job that the epilogue was. Again, same as the Adventure epilogue. Just, the literal twelve-year old fans decided to hop on the family computer and type up some fix-it fic to post on their Geocities rather than the terrible-twos-esque temper tantrums we saw from some Bleach fans.
Anyway, so, you know, there was definitely a deep love between Renji and Rukia that appeared when Renji was fighting Ichigo, though not in the early stuff, because seat-of-pants writing. Been there, and I think anyone who’s written fic has.
However, not only do none of their interactions ever read as romantic, they don’t read as the same maturity level except for the early jail taunting bit.
Renji reads like a lot of his peers, except that his childhood as a street urchin haunts him especially hard.
Remember episode one? The first thing Rukia gets mad about ends with her claiming she’s ten times Ichigo’s age. When she binds him, she takes time to draw on his face before going to do her duty.
I just mentioned the whole problem of characters’ trajectories veering wildly onto a completely different road. Shoot, look at early Gin and end Gin. (Leaving aside early Orihime who wants to be a cyborg and wants to fight to protect Tatuki like Tatuki always protected her, and her veering into Nurse Nancy In Distress Orihime, which compounds sexism because yes, the work is sexist and all sorts of queerphobic. I really would’ve loved to see a follow-up on when she decides to destroy the Hogyoku, honestly)
However, Rukia… never really moves past or gets veered off the course of her early characterisation. Even her very sweet scene with Orihime in the early Arrancar arc—it frankly read *way* more like possibly shippy peer content between them.
There are totally adults that size—I’ve known white, black, and non-white European cis men under four foot nine and Rukia’s height and build is not at all uncommon for E/SE Asian women. Her and Momo both look like just short women, not the same as, say, Hiyori or Tousirou, who are clearly just perma-kids. The average Japanese woman is five foot two/157 or 158 cm, but that height and build is not uncommon. (And though mine was racially motivated because I’m Asian enough, furthermore, Japanese enough, Momo seriously needs more love—takes a DV survivor to know a DV survivor. Clearly Aizen has groomed probably even her sense of self out of her, and neither canon nor fandom is particularly kind to her. There is not much explicit about what went on between them, but I honestly see no other possible reading for her)
Just…Rukia doesn’t ever end up reading like someone who would make a good parent. Yes, the parents of all Bleach teens are absolutely dysfunctional—the adults in positions of authority over them in Karakura all are somehow. However, what little we see in the new SJ Bleach chapter, which I actually bought at my local Japanese language bookstore, so I’m going off the original in my native language, thankfully, they’re not just repeating the dysfunction. (Though I’m very curious why there does seem to be formal kinship terms despite the fact that Kubo unimaginatively rolled with current Japanese law—thank the LDP, America’s favourite—and Rukia married out instead of Renji marrying in, as evidenced by their name plaque at their door. Clearly, there is some Kuchiki influence in their family, though… scratching my head)
It’s another undeveloped, inexplicable thing, just, I mean, while the read I got was Orihime seeing Ichigo as her hero when abuse is on all sides, totally reasonable, and Ichigo seeing Nurse Nancy in Distress Orihime as a *responsibility,* and that is just never the underpinnings of a healthy relationship. I don’t even care if you’re talking a D/s relationship, you don’t start off on that foot and expect to last, at least there was *some something* going on?
Renji and Rukia just don’t read romantic, and furthermore, Rukia just doesn’t read mature enough to be a mother at all. Rukia looks like she could be in her twenties, but she acts like a teenager throughout. Any time she’s not in line of duty mode, she just acts like Ichigo’s age. So that development was absolutely a curveball.
(And “people can be born as ghosts” is just a whole another issue and posts. Artificial bodies being capable of reproduction resulting in living children? OK. Ghosts having ghost babies…? Stretching a little too far for my taste)
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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years
Text
Ace In The Hole
Masterlist
When the team decides to bring back Superman Wonder Woman agrees but on one condition she can bring someone in to help in case he goes rogue. Bruce agree just for a quiet life however no one was quite expecting a tall pubescent teen.
Warnings:Swearing, sort of angsty, bit of fluff
A/N: This was a request from priestess-of-death for a Scarlet witch type Shy Teen reader x Motherly Wonder Woman helping to defeat Steppenwolf. I used a mix of comic and movie abilities and got a little creative with the back story. This was the first heavy action piece I have done I tried really hard to make them believable and I hope it lives up to you expectations xx ps its looong!
Dividers are made by wrightyourmindaway
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Ace In
Diana smiled in encouragement as she lead you down into a...warehouse? You looked around slowly as you both breezed through some heavy looking security. You moved closer to her trying to calm your breathing."You'll be fine... They are children really, nothing to be frightened of I promise" you nodded to the woman fully trusting her, she had never lead you wrong before and was unlikely to stat now. Quickly scurrying up behind her your shaking hands clutching as her forearm in a white knuckle grip as she made it into the huge warehouse where there was a group of people waiting....
"Whats Mr Wayne doing here?" You tilted your head a little to her she smiled at you patting your hand but ignored the question as Bruce moved forward holding a hand out to her exasperated.
"Diana...What? I thought you said you had someone who'd help with-" he stopped when she shot him a look holding a hand on your shoulder she pulled you around her pressing insistently so you stood forward. Almost as if trying to show you off to the group rubbing your back as your breathing hitched. The others glowered at the woman behind you instantly making assumptions about you already. It was clear to them that you had no idea what was about to be asked of you.
"Why have you returned with a kid? I thought you were going to get someone who could actually help! We have a crisis on our hands here-" Diana growled moved stepping away from you making you panic a little just sort of hovering there alone as the other three analyzed you. Each eyeing you intently weighing you up, judging you. You wanted to melt into the floor you trusted Diana you really did...But this was big...or you thought it was, it must be she hadn't shared the details but for her to pull you out of school; And your attendance was something she was very strict with .It must be a big deal. You shifted from one foot to the other well aware of the men in the room outright staring at you. You took a deep breath trying to focus on anything other then the situation you found yourself in.
"She is here to help Bruce..She's something else powerful and I know shes going to be a great help." You moved pulling on the sleeves of your knit sweater the cuffs loose from the way you bite and pull at them from anxiety, you twisted the soft wool through your fingers looping and unlooping the hanging stitch around the tip of your finger, you looked around. She turned to you holding out a hand and you all but ran at her pinching at her jacket. Bruce wasn't convinced peering at you with a huff.
"I met her a few years ago, she helped me save a lot of people and is definitely someone we need on the team." You took a deep breath as Mr Wayne gave you a sharp look.
"Soo she has abilities? What are they?" You looked wide eyed at Diana as Bruce stood over you and flinched trying to tuck yourself into her.
"I...er...There’s lots...hard to explain..." you spoke quietly almost frightened of being heard by him...He seemed very strict. He sighed realizing he wasn't going to get very far in the way of answers from you, turning on his heal he threw Diana a look tilting his head at her.
"Right...okay so in other words not a clue.." Diana growled at him moving to shield you as you bit your lip looking at the floor. You could see the man was stressed you took a slow step back not used to being this close to strangers....you didn't like strangers. They were...unpredictable.
"How is she gonna be help if she is to scared to even speak?"
"Bruce! She isn't scared she is just shy... She has what we amazons call chaos magic...Its an ancient gift! One that is coverted by ancient beings....It proved very useful in fighting him last time!" You closed your eyes cursing yourself for being so shy, but you were surprised when the frighteningly tall long haired man stood from his seat on the desk looking to Diana then you staring holes into you.
"Chaos magic? As in the gods sealing disgraced gods magic inside a mortal? That Chaos magic?....Isn't that supposed to be a fairy tale? Legend or something? yadda yadda all that shit?" You looked at him as he watched you intently...Gods? You looked to Diana for help you don't know what the huge man meant but it frightened you.
"Not legends Arthur...They were real...For generations these bloodlines held some magical abilities...But as time grew on the blood thinned going from incredible abilities to clairvoyant falling further and further until finally the gods interference was... effectively bred out and they became normal humans again... She is a matriarch of a new bloodline... She has to be! Her abilities are far to similar to those of the first generations. She has Chaos magic and its strong...stronger than anything the amazons have seen in nearly two and a half thousand years" The man; Arthur nodded to you and huffed
"I know what they are... But You really expect me to believe that all that power is in this lanky pipsqueak that speedy Gonzalez over there could snap like a twig?" He laughed shaking his head scoffing.
"Sorry but I just don't see it" he walked passed you and leaned on a metal beam still eyeing you.Diana was quick to jump at him, hell bent on protecting you from his seemingly harsh words. The others stood back as she got irritated with Arthur and Bruce's attitude.
"Trust me on this she stands more of a chance against Superman then the five of us together" you looked up at her startled. Against Superman? Wasn't he dead? Unless he never died but something else happened to him something sinister?...And what did she mean against. Did they want you to fight superman. Fuck no. You pulled at her arm making her look at you softly.
"What? but I thought he was... I...Is that what you need? For me to...To what exactly? Fight him? I don't think I can-" She moved over to you leaning down, tho not to far considering you were very tall for your age having your teenage growth spurt a tad early and settling at a firm 5 foot 4 inches and still growing. She gave you an apologetic look.
"We are bringing him back...And we want...Need all the help we can get...We don't know what's going to happen, if he is going to be the same..." you hugged yourself tightly shrugging her off a little shaking your head.
"B-but you said...I'm not...What you saw me do could...I could change him, fuck him up so bad and then what?" She sighed looking down she knew full well you didn't have much confidence in yourself but the others? your outburst hadn't helped convince anyone. She knew you wasn't ready but she didn't have a choice, no one did not anymore. She moved back to face you smiling softly.
"Your strong, I've seen some of what your capable of and I feel like that was just the tip of the iceberg...I’m sorry for doing his to you, so young...so much to loose and If I could keep you out of this I would...I know I said that I would call on you when your ready...when you have grown into your powers...But we don’t have time for that we need you now...there is an enemy...Steppenwolf he has tried to end this world once before over three thousand years ago the three races of men thwarted him then... but he has come back with a vengeance and is here already days away from destroying this planet and we need to put and end to him. To do that we need as many meta-humans fighting this battle and we need Superman back... I promise that I will protect you even if it costs me my life...But please please we need you with us." You looked down at your feet and nodded.
"Okay...I will help...Can you just give me a sec....need to go home and get changed" you heard Bruce and Arthur sigh and start complaining they didn't have time, but Diana ignored them nodding to you. You smiled and closed your eyes vanishing in a cloud of bluey purple fog like haze, teleporting from the warehouse.
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Diana smirked as the moaning men stopped their bitching as the tall teen disappeared. She moved slowly to the desk leaning on it crossing her arms and frowned at the team."I expect you to be much kinder to her. There’s no need for you to go at her like that! She is young and shy and what I've asked from her has probably terrified her, but she is here and she is helping, that is my compromise on bringing him back. She stays, I'm taking full responsibility for her, you upset her or scare her away and there will be hell to pay! Understand?" The four men gulped each nodding slowly, Barry looked ready to piss himself. It took a lot for Diana to get defensive like this and none of them had ever seen her in the almost hostile state. She meant business. She nodded after meeting everyone's gaze. it was clear that Diana was very protective of you and none of them doubted she would rip them a knew one if they upset you.
"Remember be nice... This was the compromise and you agreed Bruce" Suddenly you were back in the room this time in a pair of thick black leggings and long sleeved blue top with tiny white anchors on it much easier to move around in...its not like you actually had a super suit. Blinking shaking your head a little you smiled shyly as everyone looked at you closely the silence was broken by Bruce who began to fill you in on The plan.
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You moved cautiously around the ship as Bruce and Viktor moved Superman's ...corpse? Body? Into the pool letting him sink a little. You looked from one to the other as they all began discussing how this was gonna go, for the mos part you tried to keep out of everyone’s way but as they deliberated amongst themselves emphasizing how this had to be executed so precise to the second you spoke up.
"I-I'll hold it.....If Barry is late I will slow it down....So it hits...The water thingy...on time." They looked to you, Diana smiling happy that you was willing to help it had been the first time you'd tried making yourself heard...So far you'd only spoke when directly asked something and even then it was one word answers if you could get away with it. She probably should have shed some light on you for the others and filled them in on your story but she was hoping that you would open up to them, she supposed it was her...Motherly instinct towards you she was trying to she was trying to use this situation as a learning curve to pry you out of your shell with the group so they would help you over your shyness...It was holding you back and she could see the others didn't really understand they didn't see anything but a silly little girl who didn't belong here mistaking your shy nature for fear ,Barry sighed placing hands on his hips taking a dismissive tone with you.
"How its not like you can see me when I'm moving that fast-"Diana frowned going to scold Barry for trying to dismiss you so rudely but was cut off by you speaking up for yourself, seeing a glimpse of the fiery girl behind the shy exterior.
"How can you say that when you've never seen my powers..." He scoffed shaking his head at you then turned to the others
"I'll get into position count me down" Before you could reply to him he was gone. you looked down to your sleeves again tugging on them. That was why you didn't bother with people, you were mature and quiet which was strange for a thirteen year old you knew that, but it never got easier having people always underestimate you for your age. Victor sighed looking at you he could see your dilemma to an extent you were much like him, you had low confidence and being shy wasn't doing you any favors he still didn't think you belonged there but he could see how crushed you was being shut down by Barry when all you wanted to do was help.
"You really think you can?..This has to be spot on there can't be any mistakes" you looked to the water again then nodded.
"I've stopped trains and stuff.." Viktor blinked at you.
"This is going to be faster than a train maybe you should step back on this one..." he frowned noting his comment had come across almost as dismissive as Barry's and you heaved a slow deep breath looking to Superman , he could see you fidgeting with your fingers again. He sighed and looked towards Diana flinching when he noticed her dark look as she shook her head at him then spoke on your behalf.
"Is it faster then lightning?" You turned to Diana who spoke for you and smiled at her as Viktor turned to you shocked,.
"Lightning? You’ve stopped lightning?" You nodded shrugging slowly twiddling the threads on your sleeves which by now everyone knew was a habit, something you did when your anxiety spiked.
"Ugh well yeah it was gonna hit the tree in my garden....It'd make it fall on my dads car and he'd get mad soo....So gave it a nudge... it was pretty fast so a box shouldn't be so hard to stop." He nodded with a small smile trying to reassure you. You guessed it was a good thing as he told you to be ready. Then it happened, the box began to fall and Barry ran...It was..he was to slow,well not slow but they would be off by a second or so and quickly raised your hands, your power lunged out in one short millisecond burst of bright blue making the Motherbox's descent stutter then it hit the water just as Barry Passed it. There was a bright light and a huge noise like a crack then you looked up noticing a hole in the ceiling, then to pool it was empty...Superman was alive!. You grinned excited that he was back! you felt a flood of relief as you realized the plan had worked but any joy was quickly replaced by a stomach churning uncertainty. You looked to Diana asking her what to do and she just smiled nodding for you to follow.
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You found yourself standing in line with the others looking up as Superman paced slowly across his own monument, like a predator.....A confused dangerous predator finally he looked noticing you all. That was when your stomach dropped, something was wrong, seriously wrong.
"Diana! I-I can see....He's not right! He-hes confused angry, the memories are there...but-but not in order! Fast flashing even I cant make sense of them...there making me dizzy!....they are confusing...it looks...Feels painfull" Arthur looked down the line at you wide eyed.
"You can see in peoples heads?! Fuck me!" You winced and gave him a quick glance not really wanting to take your eyes off the frantic Alien. You looked back at Superman trying to tap into him. He was angry anxious worried...confused all in one yet above all he looked determined. Whatever he had just decided was definitely going to happen. You gasped seeing him turn for the worst.
"Diana...He remembers Bruce trying to kill him." At those words Diana realized how bad this was and watched him ready to strike. He zeroed in on Viktor who was loosing control of his arm. You quivered not wanting any part of this, terrified as Viktor fought with his defense system.
"P-please sto-op it ple-please I don't w-want to fight him pl-please" your words were barely a whisper, more breaths to be honest
"I cant..I'm sorry" it was to late, Viktor had fired. You watched in horror as the newly revived very volatile kryptonian swerved dodging the blast. Suddenly all hell broke loose.
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You froze gulping physically shaking as the others dived at him each having a go at him each failing. You watched as Barry made his move but faltered slipping and scrambling out of the way. In moment of panic you moved, wanting to to help Barry who was still scrambling trying to get his legs underneath him to get away. Suddenly you were between them moving your hands up in a defensive move and stretching them pulling a think wispy cord of your power between them screaming throwing everything you had at the man? Alien? Your power erupted around him in a burst of purples and blues moving in an enraged roaring fire centering around him and tapered off into slow tendrils moving in a smoke like fashion. you grunted as he pushed against it. Cringing when he nearly tore himself free from it, you almost collapsed as he beat at it swiping this way and that. You glanced down seeing Barry sitting there stunned as you pushed back against Superman panting and grunting as he thrashed wildly at you.
"Barry! Move get out of here! I can't hold him for long!" you trembled body beginning to ache as your energy was pouring out towards him trying to fully ensnare him. There was a spark and Barry was gone of to the side. This was much harder then you'd thought it’d be and that was saying something. You coughed as he made a particularly well aimed heavy hit, the ricochet almost winding you making you draw back for a split second. Seeing you falter Arthur was quick to charge at him only to be batted away being sent flying as Superman man a bee line for you, he had decided to take you out first it seems. How you managed to throw out another wave towards him you didn't know but you had slowing him when he was a hairs breath away from you. You stumbled back quickly this wasn't working you couldn't hold him off for long. It was meant to fully subdue him! you panicked this was the first time someone had broken through it and you didn't know what to do. you looked left and right still trying to get as much distance between the two of you as he managed to land another hit momentarily breaking you down. you scrabbled back as the others lunged for him again all being strewn across the area as he still gunned for you. You struggled to keep him at bay it wasn't working as intended but it slowed him down significantly, his lunges and punches were more like a mortal man. Slow enough to dodge you cried out moving and dodging him as best as you could then you screamed seeing the red of his eyes. He was going to?!
"NO STOP PLEASE!" He didn't listen you could see it in his face, you were an enemy something to destroy. You pulled back quickly switching from slowing him to attacking him throwing a wave of fire? Energy? You didn't know what it was but it destroyed things and right now it was your only chance at survival. You didn't hesitate. You couldn't! It was wrong, felt wrong but you attacked him just in time his lethal eyes released their heat you felt it as it hit yours causing an almost sunburn like feeling across your uncovered skin. You heard Diana screaming out at him the moment he unleashed his red gaze at you but it didn't gather his attention.The impact threw you both back, he was up quicker then you. He got up and regarded you for a second trying to figure you out then rushed at you once again, you caught him again slowing him. He looked around and fought batting at your hold of him, trying to find that weak spot again. You moved deciding to read him, it was risky and if it didn't work you were dead but...But if it did? he would be back...properly. steeling your nerves you twisted ducking dodging his fist sidestepping him spinning and throwing up a hand just catching him with your fingers hovering them at his temple and pressed one smoky glowing tendril into his mind you followed him forward maintaining contact watching as his eyes shone a bright color somewhere between purple and blue.
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That was all it took to completely stop him, he was under....Sort of he was fighting you inside he felt lost and frightened, you ventured deeper projecting your self to him trying to show him you wasn't going to harm him.
"I-it's okay...I'm not gonna hurt you I just wanna help....Just helping okay...Please please don't hit me" The others held their breath not quite sure what you'd done to stop the raging kryptonian. Whatever it was working as he stood stock still his arms dropping by his sides looking off into space. Once you felt him relax you spoke to him again
"I'm going to help..Just try to stay calm okay?" he didn't really reply just let out a breath his shoulders slumping head dropping to the side pressing your fingertips to the flushed skin on his temple. You smiled letting out a shaky breath and began weaving through his mind giving gentle tugs here and there pushing the images,his memories together into something he could hopefully understand. You felt his mind loose the frantic undertone as you moved them into place and let out a breath moving your other hand to his other temple. he grunted softly moving his eyes trying to peer at you they were softer then before.
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"Err what is she doing?" Diana smiled at Bruce who had just showed up with a car pulling up behind him, a woman got out and ran towards them all .
"C-clark?" Diana had to grab the woman from running to him.
"No...Not yet, he is confused he is...attacking everyone he see" the woman looked on tearfully watching the teen with glowing hands do something to him she glanced at Diana worried
"Y/n She's....helping him she said his memories were confusing him, they were jumbled...He couldn't remember who he was...What he was it wad causing him pain trying to make sense...I'd bet shes helping him remember slowly...So it doesn't hurt him" as Diana said this the woman gulped looking frightened. Diana cast a smirk over to Bruce 'I told you so'.
"So she can manipulate minds?" Diana nodded
"I told you she is powerful she has an arsenal of abilities at her disposal....And as she gets older she will get stronger...She could get more abilities to but for now she is stable." Everyone seemed to take a deep breath as they watched closely. You slowly began to retreat from the kryptonians mind, he felt better calm and collected. You pulled your hands away completely but held them in front of you still, ready to attack if need be. He blinked once twice then a third and final time and looked at you clearly moving a had to his head rubbing at his temple.
"A-are you alright now? Please tell me your alright I don't want to fight you again..." he offered a small smile to you nodding slightly.
"I'm...Better thank you" you nodded and stepped back still wary of him. Your body trembled as adrenaline rushed through you still. Going up against him was terrifying and you never wanted a rematch You flinched when he suddenly turned as a red haired woman ran up behind him he grabbed her tight in a hug seconds later the pair were flying off...He wont be helping then? Shit. You watched as they disappeared only looking down as Diana had run up to you holding your arms twisting you this way and that checking you over."Are you okay? Your not hurt are you? He didn't hit you or-or" you shook your head as she fretted over you. You flushed as the others watched as Diana moved smoothing back your hair to look you in the eye, then ran her gaze across you again in frantic zig zags.
"No I'm fine...Didn't get hit, he will be back to normal soon...I put it back together again..." she grinned at you and hugged you to herself tight.
"I'm so very proud of you...You pulled through even though you were frightened and you did it! You were very brave" you looked at the floor kicking the ground.
"Y-your proud? No ones ever been proud of me before" She smiled pulling back from you.
"Of course I am! You were scared but had a job to do, you stopped him like I knew you could and you helped him come to his senses!"
"But he left! That wasn't the plan"
"It doesn't matter...You did it...You and I hope its proved to yourself that you are in control of this, that you can help" you nodded then snapped your head over to the ship, there was a portal opening up on the other side you saw steppenwolf in it holding the box. The Motherbox was gone...He had all three.
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Since the whole incident with superman the groups seemed more tolerant of you. You'd proved your usefulness to an extent so they were more receptive to you still tho they was finding it hard to see past you shyness and the fact your were a thirteen year old. But things were slightly better in the team.there was low morale they were irritated.
"Sooo? Y/N what was that back there? it think its time you told us just what you can do." the others nodded at Bruce’s statement. you took a breath and nodded to him swallowing looking him in the eye
"I-I can do lots...telekinesis moving stuff... The beamy fire thingy...That’s err w-well I’m not sure Diana calls it energy manipulation...I can sometimes make force fields and barriers....Teleportation then I can read people...Like look in there heads ...its what I did to him mindreading sort of and recently I’ve noticed I can twist thoughts...That’s what I did to him to but I swear I was just helping his thoughts were all over the place, he really really wanted to kill us..." Arthur wriggled his fingers in the air
"So that glowey eye thing you did to him makes him what? exactly." you swallowed
"I-I was..well... its hard to explain, he was angry, confused and in pain so i looked through...I put them in order;his thoughts...Just gentle tugs so he would calm down....The only other thing I have realized recently" you glanced warily across the room everyone was watching intently Diana was nodding to you she knew as you got older you’d gain more abilities.
"What is it?”
"Peoples perceptions I can change it as I see fit...Make them believe things...Make them see things.... Hallucinations and stuff... Make them experience their darkest fears of wildest dreams." there was a breath of silence Viktor smiled at you
"And it worked...Thank you I..We could all see how hard it was for you but you really pulled through" you smiled wide at them
"Really? Your not..not mad he left I mean I know that could have stopped him and dragged him back but I didn't wanna hurt the lady..." Bruce spoke up next shaking his head.
"Honestly if it wasn't for you doing what you did...We would all be dead...I'm not sure even Lois would have been enough to stop him. And you made the right call not pulling him back..Yo-you did good kid you did real good...But no pokeing around our minds you here me?" You giggled relaxing for the first time around them nodding
"I-I wouldn't do that anyway...I don't make a habit of it sometimes what you see can...Hurt" your voice trailed off and the room fell into a deafening silence everyone knew there was a story behind it but didn't press further. Barry noticing the tension spoke up.
"Soo is this a bad time to bring up my blood sugar?" Bruce sighed waving him off just before Barry left he asked you to join him. He had been much more approachable since saving him in the battle. You smiled gratefully as you knew he was giving you and escape from the 'adult talk' and followed him out of the bat cave.
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This was it, you'd found him the ride over here had been...Tense and embarrassing for some...Namely Arthur who had inadvertently had a heart to heart with everyone after he'd sat his ass on Diana's lasso of truth. Yet during his funny rambling he had admitted that the thought you was 'kick ass' and that he'd been to quick to judge you, which had made you beam at him. But now as you stood with the others overlooking the chaos being unleashed upon the people you shivered, those fear demons were swarming the place and they will pose a problem for you.You were scared. Scared of the fight, scared of loosing a member of the team. And most of all scared of failure.
You watched as large mineral like pylons arched in and out of the ground causing craters into the ground, they all moved faster spreading out from the center of all the chaos. You looked towards the others as they to peered down at the town. Bruce had dropped you off and was making his way towards it. There was a massive dome covering the town that was protecting it from any outside interference. You watched as a huge swarm of those..Fear demons swirled around inside that is what you were worried about. This was the first proper full scale battle you were going to be in and you were scared so they were going to go to town on you. You held your breath when Bruce got closer and closer.
"Sh-should he be doing that alone?" You asked to no one in particular they all watched humming then turned to Diana.
"....No not alone lets go" you nodded watching as Bruce broke through the dome hitting it full speed creating an opening then slowly the dome shattered falling to the earth in huge chunks causing the ground to tremble below your feet as you all made your way down to the town. You watched intently as Bruce continued his kamikaze mission luring the fear demons his way with a loud irritating sound blasting from the batmobile. Somehow you managed to keep pace with them only just reaching the town before the fight began.
In the panic you got separated from the others but you knew what you needed to do. You moved fast doing small teleporting 'jumps' here and there using the energy around you to attack the stragglers that Were to slow to catch up to Bruce. You moved with ease as you burned and disintegrated the fear demons one by one then as you go more confident you stretched out hitting more and more with each attack slowly getting the hang of it. You stopped on top of a low building trying to work out your and the others positions. They were all scattered but Bruce was coming towards you fast but he was smothered! The demons were attacking the batmobile in one quick move you made the leap as he tore down the road like a bat out of hell. By some miracle you landed on it as you did Bruce. Began bitching at you
"What the?.....Kid what the hell are you doing? Get down from there!" Rolling your eyes you pushed on all sides creating a deadly barrier around him instantly killing anything within a nine foot radius.
"JUST KEEP GOING!" You could feel his exasperation threw the metal of the vehicle, but he continued moving using your barrier to take out more and more of them hitting right threw the main swarm leaving dust in your wake as you tore through them.
"Okay kid good job....Now off I'm about to make a quick exit" you smiled happy that he had finally acknowledged you...Praised you. You moved to the side and off quickly pulling the energy that was clogging up the air around you, using it to make a safe landing as you saw the Batmobile jump and Bruce pop out of it kicking ass.
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You looked towards the huge nuclear chimney in the distance. That was your target, you began running making your way towards it, by now all your fear had died out. You'd found a new confidence, you could do this. You could help them save people. Save the world, and it was a good feeling. You moved your hands in a huge circular motion then pushed forward defeating large amounts of fear demons with larger blasts as you move further towards the epicenter where the boxes were clearly being held. Around half way Diana and Arthur caught up with you.
"Kid! Ease up!" You blinked confused as Arthur pulled your arm down.
"What? But I?" Diana cut you off.
"Y/n Steppenwolf cant know, we cant let him know what you are he will kill you...Its clear he learned his lesson from last time, he isn't fooling around one of your kind brought him down last time nearly killed him and he thinks that your all gone..." Arthur patted your shoulder
"Your our ace in the hole pipsqueak! We need you to tone it down so he don't get any ideas, you need to be up by Viktor when the boxes can be separated you have to be there and help pull them apart." You looked from one to the other.
"Clark is a no show and we still don't know how deep Viktor’s going to go...your the next one who can do it...I know I'm asking a lot but could you-" you interrupted her with a smile.
"You can count on me... I'll do it!" She smiled pulling you to her giving you a hug you missed the severe look the two shared over you.
It wasn't long before the team found itself facing of Steppenwolf himself. You and Barry got into position being put on what Barr called 'bug duty' you each moved around one another disposing of the bugs around Viktor as he worked. You flinched as the platform shook with a hit from the fight below. You whimpered frightfully feeling just how heavy the hits were.
"Y/n your okay...your okay alright! Just stay with me! " you looked to Viktor even when trying his hardest to work he was trying to calm you down. You ignored what ever doubts were in your head and pulled yourself together.
"I-I'm alright just ...Don’t worry about me I'm fine!" attacking the few bugs that your momentary fear had called over, dealing with them quickly.
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That was when it happened, you saw it Diana leapt down over Arthur protecting him from falling debris. For a split second your heart stopped as you couldn't help panicking. No one should survive a direct hit like that, forgetting that they wasn't ordinary humans you feared the worst and screamed out to them. As you thought you'd just lost the closest thing to a mother you'd ever known. The thought made you loose control the blast you sent out came in two shock waves, the first quick and violent making the earth tremble and the second a rolling wave of raging fire like destruction , you didn't know how far it went but it felt much bigger than anything you'd achieved before and brought you to your knees leaving you weak.
The you gasped when you looked up seeing Diana throw the debris away and you smiled nearly sobbing as you shook on the floor. The relief was short lived as Steppenwolf's eyes locked on you, within seconds you were held by your throat he hoisted you up to his face.
"Chaos? I thought you were all dead...pity" you struggled against him, weak and unable to anything more then scratch at his hand that covered front the base of your neck all the way to your face covering your mouth and nose. He moved kicking Viktor with all his might sending him flying then he moved arm stretched out over the platform. You panicked you needed some time to get your energy back, you were exhausted drained and the fact you could use your powers was making you panic even more. You bit his hand but to no avail he was slowly suffocating you, you tried kicking at him but it didn't work.
Suddenly you could breath! As you began falling you saw Arthur’s tridents protruding from the arm that held you. You dint have time to scream as you fell feeling a strong cable loop around your ankle. Bruce had caught you and heaved you up to the platform where Viktor was. You panted trying to ease your lungs
"You alright?" You calmed yourself down nodding to him then scrabbled to the motherboxes you needed  energy and there was a perfect source right in front of you one quick swipe across it and you had taken some fro yourself, like charging up a battery.It was lucky you did as steppenwolf was coming up behind you fast you moved just in time rolling away and threw a blast at him but it didn't do much damage you were still very weak. You moved changing tactics pulling the objects around you trying to impale him or something. You landed a few hits on him as you ran around frantically dodging him. Diana got between you jumping and attacking him getting him off your back for a few seconds.
It was then you heard it, the sonic boom that was the tell tale arrival of Superman you looked up trying to spot him. But in looking up you failed to notice steppenwolf stalking towards you he had beaten away Diana and was coming for you again he raised his weapon and struck the platform making it smash and you screamed as you began falling still to weak you use your teleportation. Your descent was cut short as you were caught all you saw was a flutter of red, you looked up seeing Clark holding you gently.
"Please pay more attention...people like him wont play fair now where do you need to be?" you nodded to Viktor as he hovered for a few seconds
"Right" he nodded then flew higher you squeaked as he moved fast twisting around steppenwolf as he lunged for you both with ease and placed you next to victor.
"Stay on your guard... I mean it" he pointed a finger at you as he spoke, you gasped as you saw a huge fist flying toward him but he knew quickly dodging it then punching steppenwolf in the face sending him into the chimney , he followed him beating the crap out of him. You moved to Viktor  and placed a hand over the boxes letting some of their energy flow into you, you noticed Viktor’s quick questioning gaze.
"Its energy....And I'm low so just...Charging?" He gave a subtle nod and continued.
"Good you’ll need it" You felt your power flooding back slowly you stayed still taking as much as you could. Only stopping when you felt a shift behind you. You turned seeing Arthur Bruce and Diana battling steppenwolf but try as they might he was gaining on you and Viktor the battle naturally veered towards you. You wasn't sure what happened but something must have as Barry and Clark were no where to be seen.
Taking one last surge of energy from the boxes you pivoted throwing it to steppenwolf blasting him back down to the floor below giving Arthur the perfect opening to strike from above the others following now keeping him occupied down there. You sighed they could hold him off for a while longer.
"Is he still bothering you?" You watched as Clark dive bombed him into the floor leaving a huge crater, as the huge alien tried to sit up Clark hit him again keeping him down.
"QUICKLY THERE READY!" You held your breath as Viktor shouted this. It was time. He called Clark over and explained what had to be done.
"And fall out from these?" You and Viktor shared a look and he nodded to the kryptonian.
"Err yeah big boom." You added he nodded as you all got ready, you couldn't worry about the others now you had a job to do.
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On Viktor’s signal and three of you pulled. You quickly realized this was going to hurt, you held your breath pouring everything you had into prying the boxes apart. Your body shook as your muscles ached and pulled trying to cramp as you pressed on. You screamed out i agony when you began moving them away, it was working but at what cost? You could feel your power waning fast quickly being drained. Tears streamed down your face as you tried pushing harder taking it up a gear. Your palms stung and it was getting harder to breath, the high raw power off these things made the air thick and hot it was burning your throat and lungs. Finally with one more heave they seemed to snap away from each other. The blast was something else it didn't hit you more like went through you. Hitting your insides just as hard as your skin.
You were thrown off the platform and hit the ground hard. Your back took most of the fall you wheezed trying to catch some breath. You could hear the other two laughing and joking...You didn't understand how tho didn't they just feel that? You tried moving only to cry out slightly it would have been louder but you couldn't move not even your jaw. Diana heard you tho and ran kneeling next to you.
"Y/N! Oh my god! Are you alright?" You looked at her panicked you wanted to tell her you couldn't move, but you could only lay there moving your eyes. You winced as something built up inside of you, moving...Bubbling almost you could feel it in your nerves biting at them with a sharp sting. It was quickly moving to the surface what ever this was it wanted out now! Your skin prickled hair standing on end.
"Can you? GUYS SHE-SHE CAN'T.. I DON'T THINK SHE CAN MOVE HELP! DO SOMETHING!" You watched as Diana's face went from worried to panicked making you worry more, you heard the others moving over to you but you managed a slight shake of your head. No get back! You screamed in your head for them to back away but it was to late Diana had leaned over you and moved a hand to touch you instantly she was blasted back from the contact, you felt heard her land hard a few meters away. Releasing the small blast had revealed some pressure and  was now letting the energy escape from you. In a few seconds you was able to move albeit you were stiff and slow in getting up. Your body was jerking and shuddering twitching as the your powers swirled around uncontrollably below the surface.
"Y/N what the? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" You flinched and turned to an irate Arthur who was helping up Diana the woman placed a hand on his arm stopping him from shouting at you. Viktor to held up a hand trying to calm him.
"She couldn't help it.... The blast hit us...She absorbed it, she was using the energy earlier charging herself fro. It...she's must have absorbed to much and its trying to escape" you looked to Viktor in thanks standing slowly you could feel it the raw power ghosting the skin of your palms the bright blues and purples coiling off of you into tendrils of smoke.
You caught from the corner of your eye steppenwolf rising enraged he moved aiming his weapon for Barry. One blast was all it took for you knock the others away , steppenwolf  took most of the blast but you hit your target shattering his weapon the ricochet sending him into the thick concrete behind him. You looked to the others although they were scattered on the floor they were fine. You called all of the excess power fro. the boxes, it needed to be used and you had just the target, you felt it rise as you molded your own around it to keep control. The others watched at
"Wh-what no! NO THIS CANNOT BE!" He charged at you but you stood your ground the others watched as you became engulfed in a swirling mass of dangerous power. This is what Chaos truly looked like steppenwolf looked frightened and he had a right to be, none of them wanted to be in his shoes at that moment. You thrust both hands out hitting him directly he screamed still trying to rush forward but you pushed harder. It wasn't long before everything stopped. You let the last of the borrowed power rush forward from your palms and sighed.
Finally you was back to normal...Exhausted but normal, you dropped your hands slowly as everything retreated there was just a scorch mark where steppenwolf had stood. He was dead, you panted and wobbled a little unsteady on your feet that had really taken its toll on you. Diana ran up to you hugging you tightly supporting you as you dropped, you were dead on your feet.
"You-you killed him? How? not even we could all those years ago."you smiled then coughed a little
"Those boxes are...something else" you said chuckling you groaned as she held you tighter
"I'm so proud of you! You did so well I cant believe you did that, but don't you ever frighten me like that again you here?!" You nodded slowly to her as she pulled back holding you at an arms length you could see tears in her eyes.
"I thought I'd lost you! That I'd dragged you to your death!" You chuckled at her weakly
"Makes us even then?"
"Don’t you get cheeky with me!" She gave you a stern look then quickly smothered you with a bone crushing hug again just glad you were safe. None of the others knew where you had come from, or how you met Diana but what they did know that she had a bond with you that was not to be trifled with as they watched her dote on you who was very flushed and trying to pry her off of you.
"Dianaa stoopp! Their staring!" They chuckled at your whining and Diana's blatant ignorance to your embarrassment it was clear she was taking on the mother hen role as she licked her thumb and began wiping at a mark on your cheek making you wriggle and whine louder. The team looked to one another nodding making a silent vow to help protect and look after you. God help anyone who upsets this kid.
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that-shamrock-vibe · 3 years
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WandaVision: Dissecting the MCU’s Most Successful Superhero Couple
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Disclaimer: I am only using the term WandaVision as the coupling name for Scarlet Witch and Vision. I am not centring this discussion on the upcoming Disney+ series but rather talking about the 6 year build up to it.
Introduction:
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Despite the fact the likes of Hank Pym’s Ant-Man & Janet van Dyne’s Wasp along with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman are Marvel Comics’ most prominent superhero couples, Scarlet Witch and Vision have always been that “unusual couple” that became a fan-favourite, didn’t diminish either character’s individual stories and, once the two were officially introduced into the MCU in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron, became a hotly anticipated coupling by fans from their somewhat instant connection.
Not only is this comics-accurate love story finally being realised in the MCU, but the fact Kevin Feige feels as passionate about them as fans like I do that he is giving them their own series to shine, along with Wanda herself being involved in the MCU’s next big arc with exploring the Multiverse, I think it is safe to say that WandaVision have outshone the likes of Ant-Man and the Wasp and other couplings to become the MCU’s It couple.
Well, considering Disney+ released a new behind the scenes series called Marvel Legends last week with the first two episodes focusing on Wanda and Vision, despite them being no more than clip-reels of the characters MCU timeline, I wanted to delve in deeper and discuss how characters that were deemed B-worthy enough to be sent to streaming...which suddenly seems like the place to be...have suddenly become the hottest commodities in the MCU.
The Age of Miracles:
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Wanda Maximoff first appeared in the MCU in an mid-credits scene for 2014′s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, adding the cherry on the top of what was already a glorious cake of a movie by unofficially introducing Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Sidebar, this was, at its time, very confusing for fans who believed that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver were owned by 20th Century Fox in their X-Men movies. However, after the announcement of the Maximoff twins in the MCU and Quicksilver appearing simultaneously in 2014′s X-Men: Days of Future Past, it was revealed that a deal was made between Fox and Disney that the twins would only have certain traits in either universe.
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For the X-Men movies, they would be Mutants, have their origins as the children of Magneto and...even though this never happened...appear as members of the Brotherhood of Mutants.
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For the MCU, the Maximoff twins are known as enhanced individuals gaining their powers from the Mind Stone after experimentation from HYDRA. There is no mention of them being Mutants, their parents were indirect victims of Stark Industries, and despite Pietro having his original speed physiology powers, Wanda started off with Psionic Manipulation rather than Chaos Magic as her comic-book counterpart has.
However, it has been confirmed by Kevin Feige that Wanda’s shapeless red energy is magic of the same elk to Doctor Strange, just untamed. Meaning the upcoming alternative sitcom reality Wanda has created in WandaVision restoring Vision, could be an application of her latent reality warping powers.
The Maximoff Twins were officially introduced in 2015′s Avengers: Age of Ultron originally as operatives of HYDRA, before moving on to serve Ultron until defecting from him after realising he was evil and joining the Avengers in their fight to save their home country Sokovia.
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Vision meanwhile was officially introduced at the end of the second act for the movie but his predecessor JARVIS was first introduced in Iron Man way back when in 2008...the movie that started it all.
As Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant, JARVIS was stated by Stark to be a top of the range program that runs more of Stark Industries than anyone other than Pepper Potts as CEO. However, when Stark had the ingenious idea to create Ultron...otherwise known as RDJ wanting to steal Hank Pym’s most famous comic-book storyline...as a peacekeeping program to safeguard Earth from extra-terrestrial threats, in typical sci-fi fashion Ultron goes evil and seemingly destroys JARVIS.
However, JARVIS simply retreated into the server only to return after the Avengers acquire Ultron’s recently created synthetic android. The Science Bros. transfer JARVIS’ conscience into the synthetic body and with the help of Thor/s thunder charge Vision was born.
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I have to say also, while superhero movie trailers do get me excited for said superhero movie, seeing the reveal of Vision in the final Age of Ultron trailer gave me that wow factor moment only X-Men trailers usually do.
Comics to Movies:
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As I have always admitted, I am not as in-depth with the comics as the movies. However, Scarlet Witch and Vision are two characters I have followed pretty since I first found out about them in the mid-noughties as a teenager.
But what cemented the two as my favourite Marvel characters overall, from Comics, to Movies to TV, is the literal creation of the twin sons Wiccan and Speed who became key members in the Young Avengers.
Now yes, both characters have had lives separate from each other because, as I said before, they are still their own characters despite being also known as a couple. But while Wanda has had a somewhat twincestuous relationship with her brother in far comics history, and Vision had his own family of synthetic androids including daughter Viv, who was a playable character in Marvel’s Avengers Academy, I find the best in Marvel Comics writing was actually after their twins were reabsorbed into the demon Mephisto as they were fragments of his soul and Wanda went crazy heralding in the House of M.
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Also, not only is Wanda apparently getting her Scarlet Witch moniker either during or after the MCU Multiverse arc, but also a more comics-accurate costume. Up until now Wanda’s costume in the MCU has been they street-casual which does suit the Wanda of Sokovia. Even when she joined the Avengers and got an upgraded costume it did seem more like something someone could wear for a casual day out...as proof, my sister dressed up as the MCU Scarlet Witch by finding clothes in standard clothing stores rather than costume outlets.
My favourite Scarlet Witch outfit to date has been her full-length red gown complete with headdress from the comics, the headdresses of Magneto’s daughters are so iconic that when Polaris crafted her own out of Magneto’s medallion in The Gifted I was fanboying so hard.
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We already know Wanda will be wearing a Halloween costume inspired by her iconic comics suit in WandaVision, but if the Halloween costume looks that impressive, I cannot wait to see what her actual supersuit looks like.
Throughout the MCU:
Right from the start, I really enjoyed both Scarlet Witch and Vision in the MCU, despite Scarlet Witch still not to be known as Scarlet Witch to date in the MCU. But from when we see cameos of Wanda and Pietro as experiments of HYDRA, that one quick shot of Wanda displaying her powers I was sold.
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Vision meanwhile gave himself a somewhat modified version of his comics-accurate cape because he saw Thor had a cape and wanted one. He could also wield Mjølnir, does this make him worthy? It must do despite the Avengers constant mithering about it. If you can wield Mjølnir you’re worthy.
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Talking from a romance perspective, it was a big tease of the two getting together right up until 2018′s Avengers: Infinity War as while it was teased in 2016′s Captain America: Civil War, a romance wasn’t actually shown until we find them in Scotland.
Interestingly enough in the comics, the couple retire to New Jersey rather than Scotland.
Also, like a lot of heroes, both Wanda and Vision seemed to get an upgrade in powers every movie. We always got teases of both their full potentials in the quieter moments like when Pietro died and Wanda, feeling her twin dying, vaporised the surrounding Ultron Sentries in a moment of distraught heartache and when Vision destroyed the last Ultron Sentry.
But it wasn’t until Captain America: Civil War, where we learned that Wanda could control the Mind Stone powering Vision and Vision could easily severely injure another hero and then in Infinity War when either Vision created a human guise for himself or maybe Wanda did, while Wanda not only made short work of Thanos’ army but could also destroy the Mind Stone and, in Endgame take on and possibly defeat Thanos single-handed, that we got a true display of her powers.
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MCU creatives have stated that Scarlet Witch is in fact the most powerful MCU hero after it was originally stated Captain Marvel was, so when Wanda finally upgrades and realises her true potential this should be fully realised making Scarlet Witch the most powerful MCU character.
WandaVision and MCU Future:
Here’s what we know about WandaVision:
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Wanda finds herself in a sitcom television universe potentially of her own making after not only losing Vision, but not forgetting also Wanda has lost her family including her twin brother as well as friends and teammates Black Widow, Captain America and even Iron Man.
For someone who was late-teens early-twenties at the time of Age of Ultron, this makes her late-20s early-30s by the time of this series, my age, and so obviously all of this loss and grief will play havoc on one’s mind let alone everything else she has gone through.
Also Vision is back but I still don’t know to what extent that is, is he only back in this alternate sitcom reality or has Wanda willed him back into existence in the same way that she willed their twin sons into reality in the comics.
Speaking of which, we know the couple have twins in the series as when they’re in their 80s sitcom setting, we see two bassinettes and it’s hinted we will see them as teenagers.
It has to be Wiccan and Speed, it can’t not be. This would be a massive red mark on WandaVision’s scorecard if it isn’t. I have recently heard rumours they could be human-android hybrids to match the parents and someone even suggesting Viv could be one of the twins...but I can’t fathom why if the Young Avengers are coming into play with the confirmation of Kate Bishop, America Chavez and Stature, why these two core characters wouldn’t be at play.
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The other hotly anticipated character introduction is Kathryn Hahn as Agnes...again if this isn’t Agatha Harkness then it is major tease. Agnes is surely an alias for Agatha Harkness who in the comics and even X-Men: Evolution was Scarlet Witch’s mentor for controlling her powers.
The only difference between the two incarnations is in every other version of the character Agatha is an old woman whereas Kathryn Hahn looks like Kathryn Hahn. It will also be great to see Agatha Harkness in a comedic setting as Kathryn Hahn is hilarious.
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We also have returning MCU characters Jimmy Woo, Monica Rambeau and Darcy Lewis added to the series. All three may not be connected or they all could be working for SWORD which is the successor to SHIELD first seen in the post-credits scene for Spider-Man: Far From Home.
I’m thrilled to have Kat Dennings back in the MCU and considering both she and Randall Park have a history in comedy, the sitcom settings should suit them well.
I’m not sure why any of these characters are connected to Scarlet Witch or Vision considering all three are connected to separate heroes Ant-Man, Captain Marvel and Thor respectively, but any excuse to bring them back I’ll take it.
What is also more or less confirmed is the ending of WandaVision will see a massive witch fight between Wanda and Agnes resulting in Wanda tearing a hole in the multiverse starting the Multiverse arc in the MCU which will be picked up in Spider-Man 3 and resolved in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with Wanda set to appear in both movies.
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As for Vision’s fate post WandaVision, it is currently unknown where he will appear next if at all, and it may actually depend on the success of the series, but we know that Wiccan and Speed will become part of the Young Avengers so they’re staying on.
It is also worth noting that in the Young Avengers, a second version of Vision known as Jonas was a member of the team created through Nathaniel Richard’s neurokinetic armor gaining sentience after having Vision’s operating system downloaded into it.
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Nathaniel Richards is a distant relative to Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic who is set to appear in the upcoming Fantastic 4 movie, but is also a time remnant of Kang the Conqueror who is set to appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania and may be alluded to in the upcoming Disney+ series Loki.
Nathaniel is also Iron Lad, who forms the Young Avengers as part of the Avengers Fail-Safe program. Do you see how this all ties together?
So basically even if we don’t see this Vision again after WandaVision, we may see Jonas in the Young Avengers.
As for the future for Scarlet Witch post-multiverse, if they are bringing in Wiccan and Speed, I really want the next big arc to be the Children’s Crusade. I know fans want House of M...WandaVision is possibly as close to House of M as we’re going to get.
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Children’s Crusade is how Wiccan and Speed learn about and are reunited with their estranged mother who has lost her memories and is living in wedded bliss with Doctor Doom...who could easily be introduced in said Fantastic 4 movie.
Conclusion:
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Whatever the future holds for Scarlet Witch and Vision, no one can deny that this love story has not only been an organic one, but with it set to be the running theme for WandaVision, this love story is most definitely one for the ages.
So that’s my analysis of the newest superhero superpowered couple currently at play in the MCU, what do you guys think? Is WandaVision a couple for the ages? Will they have a place in the MCU after the upcoming Disney+ series?
Post your comments and check out more MCU Reviews as well as other posts and WandaVision starting this Friday (Jan 15).
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the-slasher-files · 4 years
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My Verisons - Slashers pt 1
INCLUDES JASON
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Just my opinion. Everyone interprets them differently but this is how I see the slashers. Some of this is based specifically on a certain movie in a series or could be just inspiration I’ve gotten from other writers. If you read my writing this will probably make sense of them, just seeing things from my perspective. This includes if they can talk, appearance, how you met, how/why you are together, nature/character, dead or alive or both, etc. Also please let me know if you feel the same or have different opinions! I am always curious about how others see them! 
JASON VOORHEES
appearance:
I adore the look of Jason from part 7 and Manhattan with classic elements. The size and shape perfect from those movies. However, to me, Jason would wear worn out jeans and some sort of button up with a utility belt of some kind, closer resembling the outfit from part 6. He always wears his work or hiking boots. Also probably always wears his gloves while outside
To me, Jason is more alive than dead, but just with the regeneration powers. He has very heavy scarring on half of his face that goes down his neck and side. Some wounds you don't think will ever heal still remain. On his back he is scarred by god knows what could be from defending the camp, or from the decomposition process. It looked like he had been attacked by a bear. Some wounds exposing the muscle and some you could see bone. 
His skin is a greyish colour but you can still tell there is some kind of blood flow because of his ability to get hard, plus I feel sometimes he might blush
His dick is a big one to put it frank lol. like 8 inches and thick. He doesn't have any hair down there or really anywhere.
his nature/character:
I honestly believe if you manage to get on his good side, he is such a sweet person. No matter what baggage you come with he will never judge because he was bullied and tormented. 
I feel he might have some form of mental illness because of his past and loneliness from not having anyone around. (separation anxiety, abonnement issues, maybe some depression in the winter)  
Once he has his person, he will never let go and the thought of losing you is literally crippling. It is his worst fear, so he does everything in his power to make you safe and stay with him.
He will listen to absolutely everything and try to understand everything from your perspective, except when it comes to your safety that is his number one priority even if it makes you upset.  
He is a very hard worker 
Extremely respectful of his person, whether it’s of their space or stuff, it doesn’t matter
A very gentle giant with you. I would use the expression “he would never hurt a fly” but we all know that is not the truth
I feel he might have a creative side to him, maybe it’s writing since he can’t express himself fully, maybe he can really draw, maybe it’s woodworking, I could even see him playing an acoustic guitar that he had stolen. He is completely self-taught
He is extremely curious about everything except other humans or the city
He also thinks Humans are a waste, all they do is destroy, fuck and hurt one another. Not to mention what they do to his woods
Big animal lover. I feel like he might have taken a dog once from the campers he murdered.
I think he is pretty sensitive to noise. Hates loud music or loud trucks, even if you have the tv a little loud he finds it distracting and disorienting
Extreme temper, as we know. If he ever gets mad at you he will likely walk it off, but sometimes if you push him enough dom Jason comes out. Fucking you against the wall with the machete at your neck, but after he would feel terrible. 
This leads into the next topic but he is 100% the strong, silent type - They're silent not because they have nothing to say, but because they don't have to fill up the air with words. They don't need to be looked at to dominate. They already dominate, just by looking at themselves, but they're serene about it. 
Can he talk?  
For some reason, I have always thought that maybe he could talk, but only short small words extremely few and far between. I don’t really think he can express himself fully even if he wanted to. He wouldn’t raise his voice above a low talk. If you were in danger he would never call your name or yell.
He might whisper “I love you” or give you small pet names but he would use them sparingly  
How you guys met/how you were caught:
So I have had this idea for a while, and I think it would make sense, but you have to be a brave person to be with him. So my idea is that your family owned a cabin on Crystal Lake but in the 80s when the killings began your family would never go back until you inherited it. The cabin sat for a long time, unused, rotting away. 
You drove up there to look at it, and you took it upon yourself to pretty much redo the whole thing and fix up the woodland that surrounded it. As you did this it was early spring into summer. You knew you were being watched and followed. However, you were never scared of this presence, it was almost like a protective energy. You almost welcomed it. Sometimes you could see him just watching and observing, sometimes you tried to follow him. 
Having had the cabin being abandoned it was pretty secluded and overgrown but, there were other cabins across the lake. Yours was the closest to the camp, it was still about 5 miles, but you could hear the screams in the night from teens at the camp. Being a very resourceful person you had set your own security traps and tripwires. You had even put up trail cams where you saw him walking so you could match up the times to murders. Sure enough, It was defiantly him. The killer. The murderer of Camp Crystal Lake. Why were you never afraid of him? Why had you never felt in danger in his presence? 
One day you were so tired from doing repairs, you drifted asleep while watching the clouds pass by. When you woke up he was standing there above you with his head tilted, almost making sure you were ok. Your eyes hit his and he stumbled backwards, he caught one of your tripwires. It landed him on his ass for the first time in years, caught off guard and not knowing what to do next. 
You two just stared at each other. “Hey, it’s ok. I know who you are,” You spoke to him. He had almost forgotten what soft voices sounded like. All he heard were the screams of his victims. “Jason? You are him” He was shocked. Stunned. “It’s ok” You explained seeing his confusion. 
Long before you moved out here you knew about him, heard the stories, read the news articles, spoke to the people of the small surrounding community. “Jason” you spoke again to him, not breaking eye contact. He didn’t know if he should run or just kill you to stop the conflicting feelings. The name you spoke he had not heard in years. It brought back a lot of odd feelings, pain, enjoyment, memories. 
As he sat there, you were not going to pry at him. You stood up from the ground dusting yourself off, looking away for a minute before placing your eyes to where he should have been but, he was gone. 
For months after that he would stare at you from the bushes, just observing. Sometimes he would stand close enough to touch you, but he didn’t. You never wanted to push him, so you just talk to him from the distance even if he never said a word back. It took a full year before he allowed you to touch him. Almost like a stray beaten dog, time, trust, and space were all needed, and maybe some encouragement by making your naked body visible to him through the windows.   
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popculturebuffet · 3 years
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Ducktales: Terror of the Terra-Firmians!  (Lena Retrospective) (Commission by WeirdKev27): Launchpad Looses his Last Brain Cell and I Loose My Patience
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Welcome back Weblena Warriors to the second part of my look at everyone’s favorite Emo Teen Shadow Lesbian Duck... and probably the only one but hey, semantics, Shadow Into Light, which was made possible by viewers like you, the ultra humanite and a commission from WeirdKev27. Picking up where we left off, we have our first episode that has a different intended order than airing order. 
As most of you probably remember, but some of you who joined later might not be aware of the broadcast order for the first half of season one is, in the academic sense, pretty fucked. It’s not Darkwing Duck’s entirely fucked by a web of badger spiders and a queen snake on top to make it some sort of train situation, but by just sorta airing whatever episodes they wanted to, Disney messed with the character balance so Huey got less focus, not that he got a ton of focus this season but still, as well as leaning into the episodes focusing more on the kids with less involvement from the adults which gave the wrong impression about the series. While it IS very focused on the triplets and webby, the show isn’t entirely about them, but as Frank has mentioned a few times, Disney Channel apparently has this WEIRD thing where they assume kids won’t like stories starring the adult characters. 
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Yeah I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a while. Mostly how it’s so dumb I could swear Pauly Shore was an exec at Disney Channel. And he might be I don’t know what he’s doing these days and i’d like to keep it that way. For starters, the Scooge comics, while barely published in the US these days, are still popular globally and have appealed to kids and adults for generations and are mostly focused on him, with the kids in a supporting role and Ducktales, you know the thing your directly remaking here, was also mostly about him with the triplets supporting, if a bit less than the comics. Most of the Disney Afternoon was about adult characters, with any kids in side roles in the main cast. And it comes off entirely hypocritical of them to say this when the MCU is easily marvel’s biggest cash cow at the moment, and marvel properties have appealed to both kids and adults, like the duck comics, for decades. And if it’s because the marvel cartoons weren’t doing well , I’ll let you in on a little secret: Those didn’t do well because they looked bland and from what I’ve seen of them felt kind of bland, though I haven’t seen enough to fully judge. Kids LIKE adult characters as much as kid characters, and also like teen characters despite not being teens. Focusing on either is valid and while I LIKED Disney’s youth starring shows I also want another X-Men cartoon before I turn 50, and I bet kids would like that too, with the last one only failing because you bailed on it because you were throwing a hissy fit over fox having the movie rights, and do not get me started on that. Point is this argument is horse shit and should stay in the stables. 
So yeah I do think this episode came too soon and it’s placement effected it at the time and as such it dosen’t have the best rep with the fandom aside from the Lena bits and that includes me. The fact it was very early in the series and the characterizations hadn’t yet sunk in really hurt this episode in places but is it really that bad? Join me under the cut to find out
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We open at the movies! Which scrooge apparently hasn’t been too since the 1930′s or seen any on video despite Della existing and being really stubborn. 
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A rant for another episode. But the kids just got out of a Mole Monster movie, along with Lena, Beakly and Launchpad. Their reactions are as follows: Lena, Webby and Dewey really enjoyed it, Huey found it unrealistic... says the boy whose uncle fought a dragon made of gold a month or two back but we’ll get to that, and Louie was bored and felt it didn’t have enough of the ultra violence, kids these days it’s not about the gore it’s about the tension. And Beakly.. is just pissed Lena tricked them into seeing this and said it was educational. And the more I think about it the more this sounds like BEAKLYS fault than Lena’s. BEAKLY is the one who likely bought the tickets, who saw it was likely an r or pg-13 and who as we’ve seen HAS A PHONE, and ulnike scrooge probably isn’t so stingy she wouldn’t spring for a smart phone, so she could’ve just googled it, or whatever bird related pun is in this version.. gandered it.. yeah let’s go with that, gandered it, and SEEEN it wasn’t appropriate or walked htem out of the theater and ate the cost if she was that bothered by it. Sitting through a Horror Movie you didn’t research, didn’t pull the kids out of and dind’t bother to even check the poster for or use basic common sense is YOUR fault. And this could’ve worked fine, had Lena talk the kids into begging for it or had launchpad take them and have Beakly find out after, having driven to pick them up as she didn’t trust launchpad to take them home. Instead it makes the former super spy look REALLY stupid and feels really out of character for a SPY to not to do research. And it wasn’t like they decided on this later, Bentina being a spy was part of the character’s backstory from day one and its made clear as early as episode 2 in both airing orders. This is just lazy writing to justify the episode and I expect better from this crew. 
But an argument errupts between Huey and Webby over the Terra-Firmians, a hidden race of rock people living in Duckburg’s discontinued sewer system, allegedlys. So Lena suggest simply going down which gets a disapproving look from Beakly, despite you know this being their bread and butter, and the fact that if she had a problem with Scrooge not being involved.. she could just call him. Exploring fabled rock people is something he’d be into. I mean there’s a low profit margin but it also costs him almost nothing to walk to the theater or have launchpad swing around and pick him up. Just gas which given how much he pays for jet fuel isn’t a big ask. But Beakly soon gets distracted by Launchpad whose convinced the film is real and is attacking the poster a grim sign of things to come as while Beakly annoyed me in this one on rewatch, especially after realizing the above... Launchpad annoyed me both times and for VERY good reason we’ll get into. This provides a distraction and allows the trio to escape. Cue titles. 
After the title sequence, our heroes head deeper underground, there’s too much panic in this town... I mean props to Donald for trying something new but he really needs to rethink his cologne choices. Sex Panther is just.. not a good smell on.. anyone. 
So our heroes journey through the depths of the subway system, and we find out part of why Huey’s so skeptical, as he finds anything that isn’t in the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook to not exist, though the cracks in this already show as he’s added anything that does. We’ll get back to this later but as you can tell the basic dynamic for 24 minutes is Webby being a wholehearted True Believer and Huey being a Skeptical Sally. And Lena is just sorta “Eh gives me an excuse for shenanigans” about it. We also get a peak into webby’s mind as we see her notes .. which really just come off as Terra-Firmian fanfiction involving a war of succession between two sides, the terra’s and the firmies, something based on previous media, and also some doodles of a fictional candy called webby-dings and herself as a superhero, both things I want to see. 
But yeah the first third of the episode is pretty simple, just them journeying, the occasional shift in the firmament, and it’s not bad, and there are a few great bits: Huey nerds out about rocks, and finds them way more interesting than a possible rock monster.
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Which leads to the best gag of the episode as when Huey tries to pick up a big sample Webby, annoyed at his hyperfixation on the JWG, asks him to ask his book for help.. which he does by reading it and actually manages to pick the large rock up. This is halted though when Lena screams.. though she really just did it to draw them to an abandoned subway car full of glomgold posters for glomgold products because of course a failed subway project has his name plastered over it. You can’t spell glomgold without failure.. the failure is silent. Glomgold is not. 
The fun is interuptted though by a livid Beakly who had realized they were missing in an earlier scene, after telling the Manager that McDuck Industries would pay for the poster.. and then found out Launchpad also destroyed the toilets “They come up thorugh the sewers!”. Launchpad that’s CHUDS, Ninja Turtles and Rats who raised Ninja Turtles like their own sons, mole people dig or use old mineshafts. It’s basic mole science. Also Beakly really shouldn’t sweat it, I just assumed the city has had a runnig bill witht he company for “McDuck Family and Employee Related Accidents, Mayhem and Shenanigans”. I mean he’s had Gyro on his payroll for at least a decade and a half by the series start, Gyro has leveled whole sections of city in an afternoon more than most giant monsters. Of which several have destroyed Duckburg. It got better. 
Point is she’s livid about them sneaking off with Lena pointing out their some sort of adventure family and Beakly.. saying she won’t see them again, or at least implying it hard. I’ll put a pin in this, as the train buckles and a bit of seismic, or rock men, activity means their stuck. So they divide into teams: Beakly will go try and unhook the train car from the busted cars so they can ride out, Launchpad will go try and fix it, and we get this lovely exxchange as a result
Launchpad: Cool never crashed a train before Beakly: Can’t you try driving it without crashing it? Launchpad: Wha? 
His face in that scene is priceless. He takes Dewey along. More on that in a second. Webby, Huey and Louie are told to stay put with Beakly only bringing Lena along because she dosen’t trust her. So since we have three split plots for a second... let’s split up gang, starting with the most aggrivating, middling with what you all came here for and why this is part of the retrsopective, and ending with the plot that directly heads into the final part of the episode. 
Launchpad and Dewey: GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Okay starting with the most infamous plot and easily the worst part of this episode, probably the worst plot in any Ducktales 2017 episode. That’s not hyperbole it’s really that bad and really pissed people off, as fans of the original launchpad felt they made him overly stupid. This is where the airing order’s a problem as putting an episode with a subplot where one of your characters is obnoxiously dumb right up front means they assume this is his charcter and not just one poorly written chapter in a very dumb but very loveable characters life, likely because the writers hadn’t figured out how to properly scale his stupidity with comptience. 
So as a result we get a good 3-4 mintutes if not agonizingly more of Launchpad assuming something he saw in a fucking movie film was real. That.. that’s his actual plot. Need I remind you, he’s in his late 20′s early 30��s. He’s not much older than me. While other episodes have him as dim this one claims he CAN’T TELL FACT FROM FICTION. 
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There are lines you have to keep with your characters to keep the audience from hating them. They crossed it about 80 times with this plot and make Launchpad into a gibbering dunderhead who can’t do anything right versus a regular dunderhead whose good at one or two things and loveable enough for us to like him and not care about his numerous safey violations and child endagerment charges. Thankfully this is the ONLY episode that gets this bad and they clearly learned from this, but it dosen’t make it any less of a tough sit. 
Dewey spends most of the subplot with a look on his face that just screams that he’s as done with this bullshit as we are, as Launchpad assumes he’s a mole person and brought along a pipe to presumibly bludgeon him, because wanting to cave his best friends skull in over stupidity is a GREAT look> Thankfuly he does not. And when the lights come back on Launchpad.. assumes he’s a monster because of bright light, GAH, and locks him out before they end up outside and the plto resolves itself by Dewey pointing out by Launchpad’s utterly baffling logic that he could be a mole monster, so Launchpad.. assumes he is. 
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The subplot’s later buttoned up as he claims “I love being a mole monster”, again diffrent subteranian creature launchpad, she says he’s not and my suffering is thankfully at an end. This plot just sucks, it’s bad, overly stupid and dosen’t work with an adult character. Someone like say Ed from Ed, Edd N Eddy, or someone who belivies in weird conspiracy stuff like Dale Gribble or Stan Pines. with either of them this plot would’ve been fucking great. I could buy it from Dale and it just comes off as his normal paranoid weirdness. With Launchpad it comes off like he seriously needs help because the episode frames it as if he can’t tell ficton from reality, and his splotlight episode later would directly contridct this and make this episode even more aggrivating, as he’s a fan of Darkwing Duck, and KNOWS it’s acted out by an actor, so why wouldn’t he get this? It’s just....
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It sucks, it sucks and I thankfully get to move on to a better subplot
Beakly and Lena: What You Are in the Dark
Beakly tells Lena she’ll never see Webby again after this.. then chastises her when she won’t help despite you know having just said she’s going to force their friendship apart, which Lena points out. She then gets mad at Lena making a sarcastic comment at her. Okay she’s lived with Louie for at least a week in airing order and a month or two in actual order. She has to be used to this by now. She’s insolent.. because you show her no respect, blame her for something that while sure she talked you into, you should’ve known better, and top it off by saying you want to keep her from the kids because they have bright futures and come from good familes and asks who rasied her and her face.. well.
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Yeah wheras Launchpad and Huey, more on that in a second, were hurt by this being some of their earliest big roles, Bentina wasn’t.. until later when we found out just HOW bad Magica is to Lena and how much she dosen’t care about her other than as a tool to use. At this point we didn’t know just how much Lena was playing webby, how much she was only manipulating her, and even with her heroic act here we didn’t know if she only saw Webby as her way to break free. The next episode makes it clear she dosen’t and genuinely does care, 100%, so in hindsight it makes Bentina come off as ghoulsih for horribly asssuming about a girl she dosen’t know, and even if she did know about Magica wouldn’t know the full story, just like us, and then BERATING her after already saying she’s going to rip her away from Webby, which itself is PRETTY bad as she’s the only friend the girl has and sh’es doing so on... talking them into a horror movie, which as I outlined was more Bentina’s fault than Lena’s, and leading the kids into a dangerous place whicha gain, Lena pointed out is something she lets Scrooge do. And trust me i know that she actually knows Scrooge, and we later find out, as we’ll cover next month, that she isn’t ware HOW dangerous things are with Scrooge. It dosen’t change the fact she knows they do dangerous stuff to a point and that Lena may just be acting out. It also dosen’t change the fact she drove three children, yes including launchpad, down here with her instead of sending them home with Launchpad.. granted that option isn’t the safest but it’s safer than taking her with them thena cting like it’s ALL lena’s fault when three of the children, again including launchpad, are down there because of HER. Not Lena, HER. I’m harder on her because she’s older, wiser and was “raised properly” apparently. Though given the way she treats a random teen off the street she again knows nothing about and dind’t bother to ask... it begs the question. 
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IT’s a good question. I could see the classism coming from being raised in 40′s and 50′s britain, judging by the timeline.. but even then she’s seen the world, and while her nature is supscious, the classit bullshit makes no sense after presumibly working with, and later spymastering for, various agents of various backgrounds. How has she not dropped this in decades. Scrooge very clearly dropped the racisim and homophobia of his time, so it still stands  on her for not dropping this. And Lena’s hurt shows under hte mask for the first time, that beneath the snark and secrecy.. is just an abused teenager with nowhere else to go and no way out being bullied by an older woman whose cutting off the only light at the end of the tunnel nto for good reason but out of classist, overprotective mallice.  My issues, which to be fair probably were intentional in the episode but sitll are a bit overblown, aside we do get an absoluttley tremendous moment later as a car falls on top of Beakly.. and Magica, speaking once more urges Lena to leave her, let her die and let their plans progress. And while that iself is.. dumb, what if someone finds her or her corpse later, especially since Scrooge would likely perosnally want to retrive the body to give her a proper burial as she’s his only friend at this point, or the rest of the family questoin the story?, it fits Magica’s lack of foresight we see throughout the season. But Lena... saves her. While she later gives an explination, and a valid one at that, it’s clear from her expressoin, her actoins and how she does it... that this is her. Part of it is defiance, as she glares at Magica before doing it, her own stubborn nature mixed with her hatred of her “aunt”, meaning Magica just made it all too easy for her to do this. But the real reason is clear: It’s the right thing to do. While pissing off her aunt and getting away with it is the cherry on top.. the real reason is that unlike Magica.. Lena is not a killer, not a monster, and not a heartless vacum ofa person. Even if she doesn’t like Beakly, for good reason.. she can’t, she WON’T leave her to die and leave Webby an orphan again. She loves Webby too much to do that to her and while she may deny it.. she’s too good a person to leave someone to die for something so petty. Even if she never sees webby again and the plans ruined. It’s better than the weight of knowing she let someone who wasn’t trying to harm her and whose actions, while terrible, were out of misguided protection of her granddaughter, die like this. She saves her. And as we’ll see it pays off.. but before that. 
Huey, Webby and Louie: Into the Unknown This plot’s a bit shorter, as Webby and Huey continue their argument, with Louie eventually making it clear, and not even hiding it when directly asked by Huey, that he’s playing both sides with a delighted expression on his face as the movie was boring but this, this is interesting. Which it is. But it’s interupted by dings on the roof and while Huey assumes i’ts just a regular rock, it moves while their not lookiung.. and soon red eyed, horrifying beasts look out at them and the kids flee back to the car. This dosen’t pan out as the car starts to shake and is clearly going to collapse.. and while Webby and Louie are prepared to flee, rock monsters or no, Huey, in an utterly heart shattering image.. stays in place, terrified of moving. 
This is where this plot goes from mildly aggrivating, as Huey’s Skeptic shenanigans can get on the nerves.. to BRILLIANT. See at the time this was more annoying because it was assumed the skepticsim would be a part of Huey’s character and we’d get more episodes of him being annoying only to be proven wrong, as he semeingly dosen’t learn his lesson at this point, looging the terrafrimians in the guide book. But on rewatch.. this plot is amazing.  For starters the plot subtly introduced the defening characteristic of Huey’s personality, one that’s become more prounounced in Season 3: His need for Order. He needs things to make sense: He solves stuff because he likes there to be order in the world and something he can understand, he can put in a box in his head. Like a lot of neurotypical people, myself included, he struggles horribly when the clearly defined boxes of his life and things he undestand have wrinkles or complexities he can’t get. I for instnace easily got it when I was introduced to the concept of trans people or being non binary.. they just make sense in hindsight: given how our brains are messya nd complicated it makes sense some people would be born in the wrong ones, and tht with all the science and medicine we have to correct that, should be allowed to transition if they so choose. It makes equal sense that some people just don’t have a gender or are gender fluid, being both or neither. Despite struggling with non binary prounouns due to force of habit.. I get the concept with no real difficulty. But when it comes to accepting I don’t have to apologize for everything and that everyone is not angry or that anger is natural and people sometimes get mad and you can’t and shouldnt’ fix it.. it’s something I STRUGGLE with even knowing it’s not right, because my brain is just wired that way. 
That’s how Huey’s struggle comes off here.. he reveals he’s willing to stay and die.. because he’s SO scared of the unknown, that the idea of dying from something he at least knows what it is versus something he dosen’t.., so paralizyed by his own brain he can’t figure out the obvious.. it takes Webby reaching out to him figuratively and literally, to show him that sometimes you have to face the unknown. The unknown is fucking terrifying.. but it can be good and it’s better than sitting there, scared and unable to move. You have to try, to grow and take that risk that things may not go well to really LIVE. 
So he does.. and they reunite with the rest of the group.. and soon find the terrafirmains.. who as it turns out once we get some light on them... are actually just goofy looking,  brightly colored, each one matching one of the kids, kids themselves, and Huey reaches out and touches one, which by ET logic means their friends now, and the terrafirmians help them get out. And this lesson sticks. While sure Huey catalogues it and it seems it didn’t.. he’s never this skeptical again. This douchey skepticsim was only for one episode, his fear of the uknown replcaed with boundless curosity and from here on he’s CURIOUS about new stuff as long as it’s not trying to kill him. He loves taking in new experinces, maybe not to webby levels but he does actually try them and study them instead of just fearing them. 
Before we wrap things up, obviously we need to talk about the JWG not having entries on a lot of stuff. This would be corrected next season as it returns to being a big book of everything, but dosen’t completely contridct this as Timephoon! shows there’s stillcgaps.. which i’m fine with. While it knowing EVERYTHING was fine for the original series here, with things being slightly more groudned, it’d just be an obvious plothole if Huey didn’t use it every single time they ran into something and that’d get boring. Instead it’s simply that it dosen’t know everything, and really in the comics at times it didn’t and the triplets found out new things. It knew almost everything mind you, but having some gaps for dramatic tnesion is fine with me and Seasons 2 and 3 decided on that instead of just having it being a scouting manual which wa sfor the best. And even by later in the season hit has guides to getting a small buisness loan, so they already course corrected. 
So everything’s wrapped up and while Magica berates Lena for disobeying her.. Beakly interputps, thankfully not seeing magica and admits she was wrong and invites Lena for pancakes, even taking a crack about if their actually pancakes or english muffins with syrup, which sounds like my own living hell, in stride, having clearly grown. And Lena explains to Magica that this was the better approach: now she’s got the in theyw anted, and is above suspcison for now. Still not so much that an obvious act won’t be detected but enough that she dosen’t ahve to work actively around her anymore. Magica scoffs.. and while part of it is probably rage.. part of it is deep down both of them know she did it out of defiance.. and only Lena knows that she did it for the right reasons... she just dosen’t get why. She probably justifies it as playing the long game.. but deep down she knows something’s changing about her.. and she’s not sure if that’s a godo thing or not. 
Final Thoughts: This episode is as you can tell a mixed bag. It’s 2/3 of a good episode, with the Lena plot, my issues aside, being excellent and the Terra-Firmian plot likewise fun, even if Huey can get grating the payoff is worth it, and the jokes are really high quality. It’s just bogged down by that fucking launchpad plot that just crushed my soul in it’s palms every time it came back. I went on at length why i hated that one but boy oh boy was the hate of that subplot warranted and I stand by calling it the worst plot of the series. It is: it’s not funny, it makes no goddamn sense, and it drags down what’s otherwise a pretty solid epsiode.
Next Time on Lena: Jaws the shark, lurking in the dark, in the depths of the bin one day of a lark decides to get rowdy, get real violent takes a vacay out to Duckburg er.. Island.. also Scrooge faces his greatest Nemesis.. a PR Tour to clean up his image after an unfortunate giant Beanstalk Incident. Be there and be hip to be square. 
Next Time on This Blog: I Tackle a DCOM for the first time for another commissioned review as we take a look at racisim, specifically Apartheid and breaking indoctrination, with The Color of Friendship. See you next Rainbow. 
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sunshine304 · 2 years
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Recent PastPost pictures of your first ever (fictional/celeb) crush to the latest one and tag five others to continue the game. 
So, I was tagged by @bang-won​ uhm... quite a while ago.
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Thank you for the tag! ♥ It took me forever to get around to it, but yesterday I was motivated enough to run Photoshop and do the little graphics, because if I talk about celebrity crushes, this post should at least look nice. XD
Everything else under the cut, because it's a lot!
Also, it's been so long I'm not going to tag anyone, I don't even know who of my mutuals already did this... Anyone who sees this and feels inspired can feel themselves tagged! ;D
Crushes in my early Teens
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John Partridge: If you have seen the 1998 “Cats” video, you'll know where this comes from. XD I was so into him, especially because he got the role of Roger in the German “Rent” production. I do have the recording of a concert with the whole cast when they promoted the show on “Rock am Ring”. I thought he was really good-looking, but mostly I was extremely in love with his voice. Ugh so good. Was my crush for years and I still know his birthday. XD
Peti van der Velde: She was Mimi in the German “Rent” cast. She was super hot and I love her voice!
Cary Elwes: You might think it's because of “The Princess Bride” - but it's not! I first saw him in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, which is just a hilarious movie in general! But I also found him very attractive in that – I guess it was the humour and his objectively good looks. Then I saw him in TPB and my fate was sealed. Swoonworthy and again, so funny!
Matthew Porretta: He was Will Scarlett O'Hara in “Robin Hood – Men in Tights”, and yeah, I also thought he was hot. :D Never saw him again in anything else, I think? Oh no, that's not right – he did a Robin Hood tv show, where he played Robin! Yeah, I saw that, too. But that was it – it was the days of yore, no internet to speak of, so no chance for a young teenaged girl to get info on him.
Will Smith: He was super famous back then already, and yeah, for me it was “Men in Black” and “Wild West West” - the songs were sooo cool, and he looked really good and cool in both movies. (Yes, I know that WWW is objectively a bad movie, but it had Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek, and a very good theme song.)
Shakira: I loved her music and her dancing.... XD Years later it occurred to me that this might've been a crush.
Catherine Zeta-Jones: “The Mask of Zorro”, anyone? Oh my God, she was so hot in that. T_T
The Period Drama Phase
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So, these are all around 2005, I guess? I watched a lot of Jane Austen / period dramas back then.
Colin Firth: He was such a perfect Mr Darcy. *swoons* I also watched a lot of his other movies and  still like him a lot. Funniest thing was that my boss also adored his performance in “Pride & Prejudice” and went on a “buy every movie he's in” spree. Which included “Where the Truth Lies”, so she one day came to work and complained about this Colin Firth movie that really was very bad and why would he act in such a movie etc. I'd already seen it and just had to laugh internally, like, “I'm sorry he destroyed this idealised version in your head with the bisexual orgy...” XD
Jeremy Northam: Yeah, Mr. Knightley from “Emma”.
Richard Armitage: And he was John Thornton in “North & South” (which I should rewatch because it was really good). God ugh, he was so attractive in that! But I find him to be very attractive in general, still do. Always happy to see him in anything and I'm still pissed that “The Hobbit” movies did turn out to be a mess.
Ewan McGregor: He was in “Sense & Sensibility” (honorary mention for Alan Rickman and Kate Winslet, who I also crushed on a bit...), but! That wasn't what I saw first. Instead, it was “Big Fish”, which I rewatched a thousand times or so, because I loved it as a movie, and he looked good in it. Then I saw him in “Moulin Rouge”, and that fucker could sing! (´▽`ʃ♥ƪ)
Thomas Godoj: Oh hey, hello DSDS winner 2008! I immediately found him kinda hot in that “he's had several rough rock star nights and someone should feed him” way, you know? XD He seemed very humble and kind in his interviews, and in the top 15 show he left everyone in the dust with his version of “Chasing Cars”. They later published the voting numbers and he won every show with at least 40%... He's also a good songwriter. I'm not crushing on him anymore, but I still buy his albums and like a lot of his songs. I think he's the best winner that show every had (except for Alexander Klaws, who won the first season, and went on to become a great entertainer).
Character Crushes
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Kinda parallel to the Period Drama Phase but also “feeding” into my Fandom Crushes, of course. It's all coming together.(¬‿¬)
Sawyer: “Lost” was a huge phenomenon for a while – the first few seasons were actually really compelling – and I definitely crushed on Josh Holloway as Sawyer. He was so hot in that show, and also a bit of an cocky asshole character (with Hidden Depths™), so there you go.
Legolas: The “Lord of the Rings” movies were so formative for my generation, I think, and pretty much all of my friends were crushing on someone from that cast. XD I was watching this and thinking, “Ohh that Legolas actor is really handsome” and he also got dubbed by one of my favourite voice actors! I had a poster in my room. I did not take up archery, though.
Aragorn: Aaaaand the other character from LotR I crushed on hard. XD But only in his down and dirty Strider form, with sweaty hair and that half-ass beard and the worn-in clothes. Not the cleaned up King Elessar version, that just wasn't the same anymore after watching about 11 hours of rugged manliness! But yeah,  I think he and Legolas were the two characters most of my friends were crushing on in some way. (It's also a really good movie for horse girls!)
Here begins the “Pirates of the Caribbean” phase, my One True Love, you Perfect Trilogy That Will Forever Hold an Important Spot in My Heart.
Will Turner: It was the guy who played Legolas in an action costume movie doing swashbuckling things! He got to wear a fashionable hat and cape! Together with Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann he was the Heart & Soul of these movies! There was funny banter! He often was wet and dirty, with his clothes clinging to him! ♥
Captain Jack Sparrow: I found him super compelling as a character at first, and then I got into the fandom (my first real online fandom) and we wrote a lot of meta, and then I read fanfiction, and he quickly turned into my favourite character. XD And with that came a huge crush on him. Yeah, I know that in RL he'd reek of alcohol and... other things, but luckily Smell-O-Vision never head a break through and so we can all just imagine that he looks like a street bum dragged through the muck but that he smells of a mountain meadow in summer or something! But jokes aside, I just loved him so much as a character, because there were so many layers to him. Movies 4 and 5 are kinda there, you know, but I don't really take them into account much. For me it's the trilogy and all the fantastic fanfic I read for it.
James Norrington: I really liked him as clean and proper Commodore Norrington, but “Dead Man's Chest” brought him down to eye level and made him hot. The Sparrington pairing also got me into Slashfic like whoa, because a lot of it was hot as burning. XD (And it also taught me to set boundaries for myself, because some stuff was too explicit for my tastes at the time, so I skimmed it or clicked out of it etc. You know, what the teens of today could actually learn to do once in a while, ahem.) Anyway, this character was great and I'll be eternally pissed that they killed him off.
Fandom Crushes
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These were huuuuge, my friends. HUGE! It was the time of me really getting into fandom, the peak of Livejournal, lots of great fanfic and online content, and I met some dear friends through it that I'm still in contact with to this day. ♥
Johnny Depp: Got hooked by PotC and then watched loads of his movies afterwards. I head seen him in some stuff before, of course, but PotC made me appreciate his acting ability. This was also the time when he had cleaned up his act, was happily married, and did a lot of hot-as-burning photoshoots. I had mostly moved on by the time he spiralled out of control (midlife crisis and addiction are a bad mix), but it was still very sad to watch. Now, I just hope that he gets the help he needs and finds his acting mojo again.
Zoe Saldaña: Of course from PotC as well, because I adored Anamaria! But I already knew her from “Center Stage”, where 'd liked her. Through PotC I checked out some of her movies. I think she looks gorgeous and beautiful, and she's got this dancer's grace, you know? Also, trivia time if you ever are on “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” – she's the actress with the biggest box office to her name, a fact that many random people on the street wouldn't know. (Male counterpart is of course Samuel L. Jackson.)
David Tennant: I really crushed on him during his “Doctor Who” era. It was never this kind of big crush I had on some of the others on this far too extensive list, but still. Crush kinda came back a bit because of “Good Omens”.
Benedict Cumberbatch: So yeah, you might've heard about that BBC tv series called “Sherlock”... This was an even bigger fandom for me than PotC, I think, simply because at this time the internet had really gone off and you could find everything. (✪ ω ✪)  I also crushed on the character Sherlock, but I think it was very much connected to Cumberbatch in this role, IDK. The look was great and is kinda my type, the show was fun. So much great fanfiction. So much! I checked out all of his other work as well, as you do. It's calmed down considerably now, mainly because season 4 was such a mess that it killed my enthusiasm for the show and therefore for him, too.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Martin Freeman: To a lesser degree than Cumberbatch, but yeah, I also crushed on him because of “Sherlock”. I thought his acting was even better, subtler, and I was very disappointed of the direction they took with the character in season 4. Freeman was too, it came through in his interviews at the time. And god, I loved him in “The Hobbit”, such perfect casting and it got kinda wasted. Never over it.
Sebastian Stan: Ugh yeah, he's hot, what can I say. XD Love him in the MCU, and for a while I read a lot of Stucky fic. It was never a huge crush, but it flared up there for a while.
Recent Past
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Chris Evans: He was so great as Steve Rogers! He also provided very nice eye candy to some rather middling movies in the past, and I love his humour and that he speaks up so much about social and political topics. Also he loves dogs!♥
Dylan O'Brien: So yeah, “Teen Wolf” anyone? XD I actually never watched a lot of that show, because they aired it in such a disconnected way on German tv that I gave up. So I saw... season 2 and then the first few episodes of season 3? But by then I'd already gotten into the fandom, because … of fanfiction? I don't even know anymore how I got into it, likely some of my fav writers started writing for it, or I saw all these Sterek gifsets and thought, “Oh they're both hot!” XD anyway, that's how I became aware of him. He was even hotter in “Maze Runner” and I'm still kinda bummed out that so far he hasn't had a big break, because I think he is a really good actor and deserves to be more successful. Love his sarcastic humour and that he throws shade at TW every chance he gets, because that show deserves it (or rather, the people behind it do).
Tyler Hoechlin: Oh look, the other half of the Sterek 'ship! XD So yeah, he is very conventionally fucking hot, guys. He was also shirtless a lot in TW. Sometimes you just want to have some serious eye candy you know. But! He also seems to be a really likeable person, and he brought much more depth to his character Derek than was on the page. And he was very open about how disappointed he was about the direction the show took with his character, and that they queerbaited the hell out of it. My crush on him is very much tied with TW, I haven't seen him in other stuff, I think. But he seems to be doing well enough, so good for him! (Also, yeah, he is the perfect Superman.)
Natalie Dormer: Well, she kinda became famous for being sexy and hot in “The Tudors”, what can I say. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I loved her in that. Might've been the permanent smirk she's got going. I also really enjoyed her in “The Hunger Games” and liked to stare at screenshots of GoT (which I haven't watched), because she had stunning costumes there and always looked gorgeous. I really need to get around to watching “Elementary” one of these days...
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: So, there was this movie called “Inception”... XD I still low-key ship Arthur/Eames (honorary mention for Tom Hardy, I'm sorry, I cannot name every crush I've ever had or we'd be here all day). JGL was looking very attractive in well-cut suits and he was also very competent and got one of the best fight scenes. That was the time when he suddenly was in many movies that I enjoyed, like “50/50”, “The Dark Knight Rises” (okay, that one was soso, but he was great in it), “Premium Rush”, “Don Jon” (ugh, yeah that♥). I also kinda remembered that he was in “10 Things I Hate About You”, which was forever ago, and I thought he was cute in that. Also, he can sing and dance, which is always a plus and makes a man exponentially more hot in my opinion. He also seems to be a chill dude who's very much into music and got married without anyone noticing. XD He just does his thing and I respect that.
Current Crushes
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Xiao Zhan: This man. So beautiful. So handsome. (❤ ω ❤) Most of the people reading this are in CQL fandom as well, so you all know how hot he is. XD Yet again the lethal combination of singing, acting, and dancing, as well as killer looks. Honorary mention for Wang Yibo, who I crush on in specific circumstances but often find weird to crush on because he's so much younger than me. Xiao Zhan, I crush on without remorse. ☆*: .。. o(≧▽≦)o .。.:*☆ That smile. *swoons*
Robert Downey Jr.: Yay, I liked him before it was cool again! XD I'd watched “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”, which I adored, and he was fantastic in it. Then he did “Iron Man” and “Sherlock Holmes”, and I'm sorry, I'm just a sucker for his look with the beard/goatee thing and the dark slightly tousled hair and the dark eyes. Helps that he's a really great actor and also very funny. It's crazy to look at his filmography and it's mostly MCU movies for the last 10 years... So I guess it's good that they killed him off and he can do other things now (like OMG “Sherlock Holmes 3”!!).
Janelle Monae: She's gorgeous and she's got talent for ten people! I love her! Makes great music, very outspoken and in your face, great style. I also loved her in the few movies I saw her in, she was fantastic.
Hugh Jackman: Oh no, the whole package. XD Can sing, can dance, can act, handsome, unbelievably likeable, great entertainer. It's bad. I saw him on his concert tour in Cologne, it was an awesome show, he was amazing, so funny, nice interactions with the audience, too. I prefer his current look to that overly buff Wolverine one, and I'm pretty sure he's happy that he doesn't have to bulk up like that anymore. He's just, so damn nice!(*/ω\*)
Ben Whishaw: Oh yeah, and I might have a thing for the nerdy looking guys. XD He is an amazing actor, and yet again I'm a sucker for the dark tousled her and dark, deep eyes, sorry not sorry. Loved him as Q in the Bond movies and enjoyed him a lot as that tortured artist character in “Cloud Atlas”, just for the drama of it all. I still got a lot of his stuff on my watch list (some of his tv shows have taken a loooong time to make it to Germany, I think one or two are still not dubbed).
So that was that. A huge list of crushes and I've surely forgotten a lot of celebrities, especially in the music department. XD No boy band members, though, because I kinda liked their music but never became a fan of any of them.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you made it through all of this, congratulations, I admire your resilience and determination! ♥
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