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lovethisletters · 4 years ago

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The Bat & The Lantern || Batman x Reader

Hi, lovely! I had so much fun writing this (I'm not gonna lie, I was quite nervous at first, since I don't know that much about the whole green lantern universe, but guess it turned out...ok?) so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and to be honest, I would like to revisit this story again in the future!

Little disclaimer: The reader is a Human green lantern but similar to star-lord she lived the majority of her life in space, that's why she's so oblivious as to whom Batman is, also this takes place during Dick Grayson early years as robin (12-13).

Word count: 2233!!!

Summary: Reader is a new member of the Justice League...but Batman doesn't seem too happy about it.

Keys: Y/S/N: Your Superhero Name | Y/N: Your (real) Name.

Hal Jordan was your friend since you joined the green lanterns (which it was barely 3 or 4 years ago)

Basically...you were "new"

But that didn't stop your fellow green lanterns (?) From seeing all your potential.

Everyone is convinced that with the right training and perseverance, you will become one of the greatest green lanterns of all time.

So, it didn't take long before you proved yourself to be capable enough to join the big leagues.

More specifically, The Justice League.

Hal was the one to introduce you to his companions.

The Amazonian, the human looking alien, the speedster, the other Alien not so human looking, the half robot; everyone was so nice to you since they met you.

Everyone except...The grumpy bat.

When you first introduced yourself, he didn't even bother to be as welcoming as the others.

He just stood there, looking all big and serious that you almost thought it was a statue or the poor guy had catatonic lapses or was way too shy or socially awkward to approach you.

You felt bad, so you approached him instead.

—Hi! I'm Y/S/N...—You said enthusiastically before being abruptly interrupted.

—I know, I heard your introduction already—His voice so devoid of any kind of emotion that you may as well had been talking to a machine.

"Scanning complete, Batman"

A voice inside his cowl informed him, it sounded like an older man with a British accent.

—Thank you, I'll check it later.

That’s when it hit you…the reason why he was watching you so intensely and standing so incredibly still: He was scanning you.

Fucking. Son. Of. A. Bitch.

You stayed there, your face paralyzed with surprise and anger, without knowing very well what to answer; you didn't want to cause a scene on your first day, but this man was just so rude; That is not an appropriate way to receive a new member. yes, it is normal to have suspicions, but you would appreciate if he had the decency to let his suspicions be known when you weren't present.

—she just introduced herself and already on with the paranoic behavior, Bats? seriously? —Hal stepped in your defense.

—this is a routine procedure; I'm just being cautious.

—He was like that at the beginning with all of us too, don’t worry he’ll warm up to you in no time—Wonder woman whispered in your ear after watching your uncomfortable expression.

Ultimatedly you decided to listen to the amazonian and let that one slide, “is normal to be wary of new things anyways” you repeated yourself.

As the months passed you have grown quite frustrated. Between all the missions and meetings even though you felt your relationship with the rest of the team grow closer and they began to trust you and respect you; your relationship with the Batman stayed pretty much the same.

Yes, there was a bit of progress….a bit.

He was bit more talkative to you, a bit more “friendly”, a bit more trusting.

But it was always just a bit never actually fully a teammate to you, your relationship felt more like distant coworkers.

At the beginning it didn’t worry you too much, until your lack of communication started to mess with your performance in the missions, sometimes something completely bizarre and unexpected would happen and because both of you didn’t know each other very well, the mission would take the double amount of time to resolve since you couldn’t coordinate at all.

One time he almost ran you over with his batwing…

The whole thing was kinda funny looking back on it but at the time you were furious (rightfully so)

In his defense, he didn’t knew you were there…I mean…you basically where standing in his parking spot (not that you knew there was such a thing, most members could fly or at least jump really high, so you kinda always forgot he couldn’t…and to be honest you didn’t know his exact powers)

—Sorry—was all he said as he got out of the strangely shaped flying vehicle and directed only one glance at you to make sure you where ok before entering the building, always maintaining that characteristic calm and cold demeanor.

One day you entered the hall of justice earlier than usual only to find an unexpected guest sitting in one of the empty chairs his gaze fixated on a book, he was wearing a rather colorful suit of some sort matching his green mask, then you realized when you were close enough…he was a C H I L D.

You panicked, why was a child here? Is he some sort of mini spy? How was he able to get through the security system? Did he touch anything dangerous?

This and many more questions ran through your mind, the child noticed you were looking at him and only gave a polite nod as a greeting before returning his attention to his book.

Perhaps a school trip that you weren’t aware of was taking place and this kid strayed from his class? Perhaps he was looking for one of your teammates to ask for a photo and got lost and decided to wait here for his teacher? That will explain why everyone wasn’t here in the meetings room, perhaps they were busy giving the (hypothetical) group of children a tour?

—Hey kiddo! Are you lost? —you began the conversation in a friendly tone before kneeling down a little in order to appear less imposing…after all he was a child you didn’t wanna scare him.

He looked at you so incredulously.

You could almost hear him think “ma’am wtf are you doing???” through his expressions.

—What’s your name?

—Ummm…uh…Robin?—He spoke like it was something obvious while signaling the “R” symbol on his chest.

—Robin, uh? What a pretty name! tell me Robin…why are you here? Are you lost?

Poor boy he was so confused, you didn’t know who he was? Didn’t any of the members told you about him? And more importantly…Why where you talking to him like if he was a 5-year-old?

—No, ma’am…I’m just waiting for Batman.

“Batman? Was he a fan of Batman of all superheroes?” It surprised you a bit, usually kids tend to like superman or wonder woman more since they are nicer and charismatic, and Batman was the opposite.

—Sorry Kiddo, I don’t think he’s one for photos, perhaps you could ask the others some other time! — you began explaining trying to dissuade the kid while guiding him towards the exit.

—He’s not here for photos—smooth as ever…the Bat was behind you.

—He’s my sidekick.

Your jaw dropped, a sidekick? He’s a CHILD! You knew superheroes had sidekicks, but you never knew they were that young!

Before you could even begin to protest, Batman ignored you, looking down at the child and instructing him to collect his things.

—Hurry, you’ll be late for class again. — He said before disappearing behind the door that led to his parking spot.

Robin quickly followed, hanging his backpack over his shoulder before stopping in his tracks directing an apologetic smile towards you and saying:

—Don’t worry miss, I can take care of myself! — He must have noticed the concern on your face before leaving.

Since that day your routine changed.

You would wake up earlier, many times you’ll be the first to arrive to the Hall of justice, and even have breakfast flying on your way there all for one thing: Robin.

Once you learned he was Batman’s sidekick you couldn’t help but worry over that poor child, “what if he gets hurt? Is he eating/sleeping/resting properly?” you just couldn’t help yourself.

At first it was just checking on the kid by just…seeing him in the morning and greeting him casually but there were times he wasn’t there, and you would panic internally and there was no other way to calm your anxiety until you would ask the Bat about the child.

He would always replay shortly: “He’s at home” “He’s at school” “He’s busy” and your conversations always would end there.

One day that Robin was there however, instead of your usual ‘greeting nod’ he started talking to you.

He asked you all sorts of things (that weren’t compromising to your real identity ofc) “What’s your favorite color?” “What music do you like?” “What’s your favorite movie?”

And it started from there.

The conversations with Robin grew not only more frequent but also more personal (as personal as someone with a superhero lifestyle can be), to the point it had become a routine for you to come early and talk to the boy, sometimes you had breakfast together or even helped him with his homework before the Bat would take him to school.

Perhaps it was because you didn’t have many acquittances here on earth, but Robin became family to you.

And family takes care of each other.

It had been a rather difficult and spontaneous mission; Lex Luthor was starting to act a little bit fishy (more than usual) using his connections and money Luthor had been acquiring/robbing very specifically concerning items all over the US, his next objectives: a Radion sample being investigated in a secret laboratory in Star city and a Dionesium sample...contained in the Wayne tower laboratories...

The team decided to split to put a stop to Luthor’s minions and his plan.

The Bat insisted the rest of the team should go to Star city, telling them that he and Robin could handle it, but everyone was immediately against it: Luthor had already collected relatively powerful items and being the intelligent motherfucker he is, probably transformed some of those items to give to his goon’s so they might have a chance in harming any of the members if they were to interfere.

Ultimately, the team agreed you and cyborg would accompany them to Wayne Tower.

Robin was stoked, he would get the opportunity to fight alongside you! But Batman…not so much…he kept trying to lose the two of you on the way there; fortunately, cyborg put a tracker on the batwing, he wasn’t going to get rid of you that easy.

Upon your arrival, you could spot several men (armed like if they were military but with a much more upgraded equipment) already leaving the building, carrying two tanks (presumably full of that substance Martian Manhunter had mentioned before) and heading to a truck without any plates.

Long story short: you organized a plan as quickly as you could but…something went wrong…Cyborg and Robin were supposed to create a distraction while the two of you recovered the tanks without damaging them, since the properties of the substance within remained unknown.

But something went wrong: You and Batman failed to coordinate and so you were spotted by the henchmen, they started aiming their weapons at the two of you, initially you thought a force field generated by the power of your ring would be enough...oh no, honey, you’re so wrong.

Sonic weapons were able to not only break your concentration quickly, but also made your ears bleed! One after another you kept re-making the fields, but the sonic waves so deathly and loud just kept coming.

You don’t know how but you were able to stand your ground long enough to make cover not only for Batman and allow him to get the tanks back safely but also for the rest of your team and give them a slight advantage to take down as many of Luthor’s minions as they could.

And then…you passed out.

You woke up at the infirmary in Justice Hall, your head a mess and wrapped in bandages, you had broken your arm because that shit inside a cast too for some reason…and…your ring was gone!

Panic!

No, never mind it was on the nightstand next to the chair in which batman was sitting on.

WAIT…next to the chair in which batman was sitting on?!?!?!

—How are you feeling? — you didn’t know if it was him suddenly talking or the genuine concern on his voice that startle you, so you just nodded slightly while he approached you.

—Can you hear me properly? —Surprisingly you could, but you still were a bit taken aback by his presence.

—I…—Before responding your brain reminded you of the fact that you didn’t had your ring on, hence your secret identity was revealed to Batman. Your hands practically flew to your face in embarrassment. You didn’t know why but without your mask you felt naked and vulnerable.

He noticed.

His gaze studying your pained expression before he let out a small sigh.

—I came here…to thank you…and apologize— hesitantly his hands moved to the back of his cowl.

—You not only put yourself in danger for Cyborg and Robin, but you also concerned yourself with my safety even when it was probably my fault that we ended up in that situation —He admitted pressing a hidden button loosing up his cowl before finally taking it off and reviling the most gorgeous man you’ve had ever lay your eyes on.

—And for that I thank you and apologize…sincerely—Such sudden action left you speechless for a while, Batman not only had thanked you and apologized, but he had entrusted his identity to you.

—I think-…I think we started with the wrong foot; you know? —You finally were able to respond, breaking the silence that filled the room and surprising him slightly by your sudden declaration.

—Let’s start again…Hi! I’m Y/N—You imitated the same friendly voice tone you first used to talk to him.

The lips on the man in front of you curved forming a subtle almost imperceptive grin.

—Hello, Y/N, I’m Bruce…Bruce Wayne.

♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! IT. TOOK. SO. LONG. Sorry :c

I had a bunch of ideas for this request but ended up going with this one since I wanted to expand on their beginning, I’m still trying to figure out a way to write Bruce and this was my first attempt, so…sorry if it was…bad :c I’ll try harder next time!!!

Any errors you might see, please let me know; English is not my first language so I’m trying to improve.

In the final scene I wanted Bruce to show he recognized the Reader as an equal so that’s why he took it off…still I felt like it could improve.

♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

I will forever thank you if you go check out my other profile: @aileysmirnov where I post things about my OC: edits, one-shots, imagines, art, etc. If you like Greek mythology and the bat family maybe you would get to be a little bit fond of her as much as I am!

Anyway! Thank you for reading!

#batman x reader #batman hc #batman #batman imagine #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne #batfamily #green lantern #justice league #batfam #fanfic #batman fic #dick grayson #robin

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monkeydluffy19920 · 4 years ago

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I also noticed he’s wearing the circles like Nami does. Is there a reason for those circles?

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Greetings @icantthinkof1posts and many thanks for the submission :) I’ve never paid attention to this detail while watching Heart of Gold-tv special before so thanks for pointing this out! Now that I look at the jacket pattern it surely reminds me of Nami’s skirt and jeans’ circles and after browsing her outfit gallery in One Piece fandom wiki it seems like these circles appear in many of her outfits:

The reason how those circles ended up in Sanji’s jacket in Heart of Gold probably remains a mystery forever but it indeed is a nice detail from the perspective of shipping. However, I think it is partly a coincidence, they both enjoy fashionable clothings and maybe they like same clothing brands. An interesting topic and for example my fellow shippers @pernanegra [x] and @sanjiafsincedayone [x] have written nice thoughts about clothing related to Sanji x Nami for Sannami week- event.

But in general, it’s actually pretty interesting to notice that Sanji and Nami indeed do seem to have some similarities and/ or “parallels” when it comes down to their style and clothing. For example in the following cases there seem to be something:

Sanji’s Alabasta’s outfit

First one might be very far fetched but I admit when I first saw the desert outfit after a long while, the sun on his sleeve reminded me of the logo of the Sun Pirates and guess who was part of the Sun Pirates? Arlong and then who was working under Arlong? Nami!

It’s hard to say did Oda-sensei mean any foreshadowing in this but now to think about the connection to the Sun Pirates came up later in the story line when Jinbei revealed to be close to Arlong.

Sanji knew about Nami’s backstory because Nojiko told it to them earlier when Nami struggled to fight against Arlong’s terror. She didn’t know Sanji knows so she was probably surprised why it was difficult to Sanji to face Jinbei’s confessions.

Actually the Nami’s backstory that returned in Mermaid Island arc turned unexpectedly into a parallel at the latest in Zou arc where Nami became the one who learned about Sanji’s backstory (well there was also Brook and the others but the point is, they both know their backstories)

A bit similar pattern in shirts

Before the Strawhats arrived to Alabasta, Nami wore this colorful heart-patterned shirt and later she changes it to the black/blue bikini top. Sanji also switches his outfit in Skypiea to this red-shaded and flowery patterns too that are a bit similar to Namis (who knows, maybe the same brand?)

Punk Hazard style

Sanji’s winter outfit after the main adventures in Punk Hazard is stylish and has Nami’s colors and those S-patters partly resemble Nami’s iconic pinwheel tattoo. Her jacket instead follows a bit of Sanji’s suit jacket style (with 6 buttons)

Of course those swirls in Sanji’s jacket and in Nami’s could also represent the symbolism behind their names. My fellow shipper @eleamaya wrote a interesting analyze about their names: Sanji = whirlpool // Nami = Wave both things are linked to swirls.

The swirls can also be symbolism for Sanji’s curly eyebrows and now to think about, the symbol of the Arlong Pirates reminds a bit of a whirlpool if one looks quickly.

wearing blue and orange

There are obviously dozens of outfits Nami has worn but one thing that crossed my mind after browsing the One Piece’s fan gallery was that she wears a lot of blue, either the top or the bottom part which is nice because blue is a nice color.

(and yes I am color blind, I can’t distinguish blue and purple-ish well *laughs*)

Also Sanji likes to wear blue but also he has worn a lots of shades of yellow/orange. Shipwise this is an interesting thing to notice because their theme colors are blue and orange. Eleamaya linked it to the colors of the sunset which has these two very colors and she also pointed out there the common link in their names (related to the element of water).

(btw @sanjiafsincedayone‘s post about orange and blue sums ups well this theme)

ties

Both Nami and Sanji have been seen wearing ties both in canon and in Color Spreads, if we return into a earlier subject, Nami wears blue again in Water 7.

Offering the suit jacket to the lady

Sanji is a gentleman so it’s natural nice gesture for him to offer his jacket. First time he offered it to Nami when they survived the ordeals in Little Garden. Nami’s reaction was annoyed.

Later he gave his jacket when they were freezing in Punk Hazard’s cold side. Then Nami’s reaction was more friendly (she seemed actually be surprised about him doing it again). This is most likely because they’ve known each other for a longer time in Punk Hazard arc.

Number 3 in clothing

There has been great analyzes about this topic but to sum it a little bit: Oda-sensei has given each Straw Hats a “theme”number that is based on their birthday and names, Sanji’s is 3.

He has worn number 3 in his outfit in Whole Cake Island arc in flashbacks when he was a child, mostly so their father and his minions could distinguish Sanji and his siblings. Nami as well has worn number 3 in Water 7 arc. Actually Luffy has also worn numbers in the flashback arc. but they are linked to his own birthday as far as I remember, Nami is only strawhat who has worn numbers “just for fun” so far but correct if it’s false.

Of course it might be that since Nami was the third one to join the Straw Hats, her number also is therefore 3 which could be the reason why Oda-sensei made her wear that in Water 7.

clothing details in official art

@sanjiafsincedayone also wrote posts about the colors blue and orange and how they appear in One Piece. Oda-sensei likes to share his official One Piece art in Color Spreads between the chapters and in art collections (Color Walks) and once these are published, we fans then enjoy to find details that match to our OTP.

Here are some of the stylish details that has been pointed out in Sanji x Nami posts about official art:

- similar/matching accessories

One thing Sannami fandom has pondered together is that they like to wear accessories, for some reason there has been a couple of drawings where the accessories are very similar to each other

(the picture below with giraffe theme is from Color Spread chapter 357 and the picture below with similar flowery necklaces is from Color Walk 5)

(They both seem to really enjoy wearing necklaces)

(and who knows, maybe that necklace that appears in Color Walk 4 could be the same as in chapter 357)

When it comes down to similarities, there has also been same styled wristbands in chapter 878′s Color Spread

and sunglasses in the Color Spreads of chapter 941 and 835

Sanjiafsincedayone pointed out also that Nami seems to like to wear blue colored kimonos in Color Spreads

A couple of times Sanji and Nami either wear the same patterns in their clothes (i.e chapter 507)

or one wears swirls and the other rings (Chapter 937)

- character shirts, a (far fetched) foreshadow?

In chapter 692′s color spread Sanji wears a shirt where there is a character who l1ooks very much like Nami (with all the bikini top-style and curly hair)

Nami has actually worn character shirts as well, in chapter 578′s Color Spread. If the theory would be far fetched then we could imagine that picture in her shirt could be referred to Alabasta arc (because of the cactus and desert) where he referred himself with a codename Mr Prince.

If we wanted to put this thought of this even more trickier we would think about Sabo’s background as a noble who never wanted to be a noble and ran away, just like Sanji did so that picture on her shirt could be also a parallel

but since the guy looks more like Sabo perhaps it was more likely foreshadowing to Dressrosa when the Luffy’s long lost brother made a comeback.

And now to think about, Nami’s outfit in chapter 771′s and 588′s Color Spreads could have foreshadowed the upcoming art since Sanji also wore ruffle-styled shirt before the tea party? (and actually, Nami’s WCI arc dress had ruffles too).

fun fact: Robin’s outfit in that Alice in Wonderland themed Color Spread was very close to what Sanji wore in WCI)

sweet escape

The gingerbread theme in chapter 902′s color spread was cute and as a shipper the view of Sanji and Nami sharing the same pattern icing/frosting/topping is cute (there were other Straw hats too in that picture but their patterns were different).

Movie 2 Clockwork Island

Last but not least in the list is One Piece’s second official movie. Yes, it’s a movie and therefore it’s non-canon but I find it interesing that out of all outfits and characters, Nami and Sanji are dressed as they could walk to the wedding aisle any minute. What makes it even more amusing is that Usopp and Zoro are dressed more traditionally and could bless their union *laughs*

And after the Whole Cake Island’s and Thriller Bark’s events and marriage theme that is quite a parallel in total (first Nami being the damsel in distress who needs to be saved from a forced marriage and then later Sanji being forced to marry because of his father’s policies) the more funnier the link between the arcs and movie 2 feels (since there is too Nami being kidnapped and almost forced to marry someone she doesn’t want and the movie’s promo picture includes a bridal carry)

When it comes down to the concept of the word canon, It really depends on the shipper which is counted so called shipwise-material. For some everything is potential but dor some, only manga as canon counts and therefore everything else like side stories (fillers, movies), merchandising (ads etc.) is shipwise just so called “nice extra” (like some of these examples mentioned before) since these filler-stories and movies are still mostly handwritten and directed by someone else than the main mangaka. Obviously Oda-sensei is the main supervisor and is very strict about what should happen and what not and he might do these detail things just for fun and it’s us reading it as signs for OTP. So all in all, as always said,

as much as we like to seek for details to support the ship, it’s all about interpretation ;)

#one piece #nami #sanji #sanami #sanji x nami #sannami #otp #mellorine #long post #luffy #zoro #usopp #nakama #submission #analyze #//sorry got carried away *laughs*

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talks-refined · 4 years ago

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Why azula, in my opinion, shouldn’t have had a redemption arc

i know it’s a complicated subject in this fandom but i wanted to give my two cents on it! i promise this isn’t me just going “booh evil”

okay so here’s the thing. the reason this is so complicated to answer is because it needs to ask pretty existential and complex questions like, can everyone be redeemed? how is evil made? how much of you is really only your upbringing? is it possible to be inherently bad? what do we fundamentally deserve? can you separate yourself completely from what you’ve been since birth and if so, what’s left?

now if you walked up to me and asked those questions, my answer would probably be something along the lines of “i don’t know, i just got here”. so that’s not what i’m gonna try to answer here

notice how i said “shouldn’t have had” and not “deserved”. i can’t tell you what azula “deserved”— probably a nicer childhood and therapy— but i can also say azula didn’t “deserve” anything. she’s a character, she’s words on paper, animation and voiced acting. there isn’t a real azula, an actual 14 years old child soldier out there awaiting to turn good. characters are story arcs, development, goals... what makes their value isn’t morals but what they bring to the story. and azula brings so much that, in my opinion, being ultimately redeemed would cheapen

first off: zuko. i’ve seen people say azula shouldn’t get a redemption arc because then her story would just be the same as zuko. it’s... not true, obviously, they’re different characters for a reason, but there is a part of truth i wanna point out here:

zuko and azula’s stories are diametrical opposites. two siblings, a boy and a girl, a firebending prodigy and one who’s average at the very best, one favored by his mother, the other favored by her father, one impulsive and one calculating. At the beginning of the story, one angry and unstable, the other calm and confident, one banished, desperate and without honor, and the other a princess and leader, acclaimed by all, who radiates regal energy.

“(ozai) said she was born lucky. he said i was lucky to be born. i don’t need luck, though. i don’t want it. i’ve always had to struggle and fight and that’s made me strong. that’s made me who i am.”

( zuko, to aang, season 1 finale )

that first sentence was the hook that told the viewers azula would come in the picture in season 2 and it tells you exactly the opposite dynamics their characters would develop on. azula is perfect, zuko is a failure is the message we’re supposed to get, at least that’s how they view each other and themselves, because that’s what their father taught them. but here’s the thing: luck is by definition elusive, and perfection is by definition unattainable. azula spends her life building herself around the vision that failure is inexcusable. because she’s at such a high place, because she’s so perfect, she can never fail, because she can’t and because she’s not allowed to. that mentality is bound to doom her, it’s inevitable. it’s a direct opposition to zuko, who builds himself in the fact that he’s failed so many times, that he made so many mistakes, that each taught him lessons. when zuko fails once, he knows he can get up because he was miserable for so long that it taught him he can survive anything. when azula fails once, she crumbles. azula is a cautionary tale of perfectionism, and cautionary tales can’t have happy endings. zuko’s approach of life has to reach a happy ending, because he’ll always look for one, it has to reach a redemption arc because he’s not scared of the mistakes he’s made in the past and he is always trying to better himself (the redemption comes when he realises he was trying to meet the wrong standards). azula’s approach of life guarantees a downfall because she’s convinced that failure is the end.

both their stories mirror each other, backwards. when we meet zuko, he’s failing, always, and when we leave him, he finally won. when we meet azula she’s winning, always, and when we leave her, she finally (by which i mean that it’s inevitable, not that it’s good) fails.

and there’s another reason (let’s pretend this is structured, okay?), that’s a little more complicated, and it has to do with ozai.

you know how ozai is barely present in the series? i’ve seen some people argue that azula is a better villain because she’s scarier or because we see her more. here’s the thing:

when you’re trying to portray something that’s really, really awful, it’s easier not show it. when you show something, in it’s entirety (in that context that would mean making ozai a deep, 3 dimensional character that we see develop) it’s... small. to define is to limit (- oscar wilde). when you only show small things tho, details, in movies it can be shadows, think the beginning of stranger things when you don’t see monsters, but can feel a threat, that’s when it can get scary as shit. because whatever limited, physical (or character-ial? is that a word) form you chose for the villain isn’t there in people’s minds, it’s only their own imagination trying to comprehend what you made them feel. and what people imagine based on only fear, or anger, is easily scarier than any five headed monster you can put onscreen.

that’s what ozai is: a looming threat. hell, i’m not even sure we see his face until season 3. he only has a handful of scenes. but i hate him. i hate him so much i could scream into a pillow and he’s so vicious it sends shivers down my spine. you know why? because of what he did to zuko and azula.

when you wanna keep your main villain mysterious, it’s good to give the audience characters that he’s interacted with. characters that he’s close to enough to have had an effect on them, so they can perceive a part of him. and boy did he have an effect on his children

( to be fair here: that idea and most of what i’m saying about it came from Overly Sarcastic Productions video on minions as a trope. it’s really good i love their whole channel, red is amazing)

season 1: meet zuko. he’s a sixteen years old. he’s a bad guy, but written so that you sympathise with him to a certain extent. then comes the Tragic Backstory Episode and you learn that he was challenged to a duel as a thirteen years old by his father after he spoke without permission in a meeting, begged for mercy, got half of his face burned off at the hands of his father, and was banished from his home to search for the avatar, who was dead as far as anyone knew.

now you’ve seen very little of ozai after this episode, but you’re ready to fight that guy, right? i know i am.

it gains a level of depth with azula. after being introduced to a character who is starving for his father’s love and approval, we’re introduced to a new character, who seemingly has all of that. azula is zuko’s ever winning rival. she has everything he wants, her honor, her title, her father’s favors.

(i think it’s worth noting that making your children compete for your love is already a red flag for noticing pieces of shit)

but it’s not enough. azula has everything, she is everything ozai values (cunning, strong, ruthless) and even then it’s not enough to please him. nothing will ever be good enough. and you see two children fighting, breaking themselves to please a father that is seemingly incapable of love, but keeps baiting them, giving them impossible standards to reach so they’ll always keep trying to please him.

okay, now you hate him, right?

but here’s the thing: because azula was a firebending prodigy, she got a taste of her father’s approval. he saw himself in her, where he saw too much of iroh and ursa in zuko. he was proud of her.

he was never proud of zuko. too soft, not strong, or fearless enough. because of that, zuko was never close to his dad. all he got was disdain. because of that, he forms bonds with other people (with his mother and uncle, at first) that expose him to another vision of life. and in exile, after chasing relentlessly, part of him is pushed to the realisation that he can live without his father’s approval. because he had to.

azula on the other hand, quickly becomes all ozai’s. from flashbacks you can clearly tell each of them gravitates around one parent, zuko around ursa and azula around ozai. even in her other relationships (zuko, tylee, mai...) she behaves according to what her father taught her, how to manipulate and hurt others

and ursa has flaws, god i’m not saying she doesn’t. that deserves a post in itself. but she values things like kindness, softness and love. ozai values strength, power and cunning. childhood is a formative stage: you often build yourself on the way you were raised. zuko had those conflicting values, because ursa, and ozai more indirectly, both taught him. but ozai isolated azula from other (adult) presences. this is more speculation but i really think it’s true, for what it’s worth. we rarely ever see ursa and azula interact, and when we do ursa is i think always? reprimanding azula for something that ozai taught her. it doesn’t seem like they spend enough time together for her to teach her daughter a better way.

that’s the thing. ozai’s “love”, or at least approval, was azula’s curse. zuko thinks it’s something he has to aim for, and later realizes it’s only ever going to be conditional and manipulative and stops trying. because he knew another way. but azula always lived with it. it isolated her, prevented her from ever finding a better way. his “love” is what did this to her

so yeah. none of this is saying that azula could never have been good. she was 14, she had a whole life ahead, i’m not some psychology master that can tell you exactly if it’s even possible to unlearn so much manipulation and abuse- i want to believe it is. but this is a story, and to me it’s the more nuanced, more interesting, better story they could’ve written. i think having those two very different and very paralleled stories, for a show that doesn’t shy away from complexity the way atla does, was very important.

while i was writing this, i showed it to a friend, who can speak for toxic households better than i can, and gave me a new perspective and the best conclusion: when in an abusive parental relationship, there’s always a tearing hesitation between ‘breaking free’ and doing what’s best for you, and staying loyal to your parent, someone you’re supposed to love and who’s supposed to love you. zuko is a message of hope ; azula is a warning

#azula #princess azula #atla #Avatar The Last Airbender #azula redemption arc #please be nice

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sanchoyo · 3 years ago

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danny phantom, season 3, episodes 7-13 thoughts! cannot believe im finishing this series so fast. ...cannot believe it ended like that...uh. one of the weirdest finales to a show I think I've seen, it really stood out against the rest of the series, and not in a good way, in my opinion. I paused to yell in caps lock...several times, I think, out of anger... BUT. ANYWAY, HERE WE GO.

see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3

-the fentons putting the kids to Work in the lab, with NO SAFETY GEAR. AT ALL. THEY JUST GOT BACK FROM SCHOOL AND ARE TIRED!!! and when jack asked how danny his day was and danny tried to say it was bad jack cut him off :( for the 400th time, i am stealing these kids.

-maddie and jack IMMEDIATELY SELLING THEIR LAB AND WORK FOR A LOT OF MONEY. and danny cant get into the portal anymore, oh no!!! he could always just steal vlads I Guess.

-THEY ARE VLADS NEW NEIGHBOR. OH MY GOD. this is a sitcom format. a butler came with the new mansion. i would absolutely try a kiwi fudge milkshake, why is the butler disgusted.

-the..guys in white bought the lab to shoot a missile. into the ghost zone thru the portal. bro i hate these guys

-jazz straight up setting her new bedroom up in the library. i am very very jealous

-"RATED E, FOR ENTRAILS"

-I like how the 14 year olds very quickly realize if the giw destroy the ghost zone itll destroy OUR ZONE because its just. like. the other side of the quarter so to speak. and the giw, a fully funded government agency, didnt consider that...(or worse, are willing to risk that anyway...)

-a...graphic novel version of the constitution? what in the world have you been READING SAM

-'cool, I always wanted to be called a meddling kid!' scooby doo reference...

-can they keep the butler. I love him.

-ecto latte....I also want to try that. is ectoplasm edible...

-YESS I KNEW DANNY WOULD USE VLAD'S PORTAL. vindicated.

-DANNY WHY DIDNT YOU JUST ASK JOHNNY NICELY. STEALING HIS BIKE IS SO SO RUDE.

-youngblood is also into astronaut stuff, thats really cute. and him being like 'phantom, dude!! :D' ALL EXCITED. THATS ADORABLE.

-the slapstick comedy of the giw slipping and falling and running into shit in the lab. is funny, but also, because this lab has NOOO safety codes in practice. god its a wonder dannys the only one to have died here...

-JOHNNY, SKULKER AND YOUNGBLOOD HELPING DANNY!!! I keep saying it but the other ghosts helping him. is my fav thing in the world. and, it's a really good thing the missile in the real world was harmless...otherwise the fentons wouldn't have had a home/lab to come back to...

-WULF WANTED POSTER!!! we havent seen wulfy in so long :( very funny the box ghost is offended by how much these ghosts are wanted for. first off, what do ghosts even DO WITH MONEY. does the ghost zone have its own currency??? what are ghosts BUYING

-the box ghost is So Funny, im so glad hes still got his bubble wrap. u are VERY wanted in THIS house box ghost. you are SO scary king. dont give up on ur dreams

-this needs to be a meme format. I made a transparent version, very very messily, for future use.

-this is a Fellow and a Friend

-box ghost accidentally bringing lunch for everyone, and giving people at the mall free shoes. SHOES ARE SO EXPENSIVE, ID BE SO GRATEFUL. helpful king. i feel SO bad for him lmao, he's putting in SO much effort. he wants the evil aesthetic So bad but hes Just Too Silly. I understand your plight, box ghost....

-oh my god. pandoras BOX. 'THOSE OF US IN THE BOX TRADE' HOW MANY ARE IN THIS BOX TRADE. I WANT IN. pandora is a multi-armed ghost goddess and i love her.

-SKULKER WHY ARE YOU RUNNING FROM THE EVIL UNICORN?? YOURE A HUNTER!! JUST SHOOT IT!!!!!!! JUST HUNT IT!!!

-box ghost...where did you get the cowboy hat. I respect it, i just want to know

-JAZZ COMING IN WITH THE BAZOOKA TO FIGHT THE 10 HEADED DRAGON!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!! and the rest of the fentons I Guess

-ignoring the sam/danny moments. I simple do not see them.

-...why doesnt danny just fly over the maze. or do the whole 'real world people act as ghosts in the ghost zone' and turn back!!! I know its just to show off the ghost greek monster designs. but STILL.

-danny being like. um. hi pandora. i found your box. >< polite...PANDORA IS SO GIANT. GIANT GHOST WOMAN. SHES GOING TO BEAT BOX GHOSTS ASS. another ghost thats nice to danny to add to the list :) and HER FORCING BOX GHOST TO APOLOGIZE. and having sandwiches with danny after making box ghost clean up. I LOVE HER.

-DANNYS 'BEWARE' AT THE END JAKHDJFKN

-okay, when dash pulled out danny's seat and was calling him buddy, for half a second I was like 'this is a prank, hes gonna pull it back' BUT THEN FRIGHT KNIGHT MY BELOVED IS BACK. AND EVERYONE STARTS CHANTING FOR DANNY TO BEAT HIS ASS WITH GHOST POWERS AND DANNY DOES WAY TOO EASILY, and im like, yup, this is a dream LMAO

-danny is getting an A+ in science :) my smart son

-DANNY WAKING UP FROM THE DREAM RIGHT BEFORE KISSING SAM AND BEING LIKE 'that was a dream...no, a NIGHTMARE!' same. not to be a hater but, shouldve been val. maybe I am a hater

-...danny running and checking the 'tapes'...why is his whole house constantly being recorded. hes been in ghost form/fights plenty of times in his house. does he have to run and wipe the tapes after?? every single time?? god

-letting this image speak for itself

-this is SO cursed

-NOCTURN'S DESIGN FUCKS SO HARD. the Venice mask vibes. also his space pattern not moving while the rest of his animation does is big chowder vibes. but this guy is basically the sandman but Evil, huh. I love dream plots. also, nocturn's design feels very similar to clockwork, like, red eyes and a scar over the same eye, but also just the purple, and the Cosmic Vibes. I want to see them fight. anyway nocturn's va was also avatar roku AND alfred in several batman cartoons.

-the 'sleepwalkers' designs were super cute in shape (kinda remind me of oogie boogie! pillow-cased shaped, which is appropriate for the 'king of dreams's minions) until I looked closer at their eyes. why do they look sewn shut!! (they open their eyes a few times, so they aren't, but they look like it...)

-I like how this show has been pretty consistent (with a few exceptions) about a Ghost Being Huge (or getting larger) = Very Powerful

-2 months of summer camping??? wtf, do camping things usually take that long?? I've never been to a camping...thing like that. but isnt that basically their entire summer??

-'the entirety of nature is your bathroom!' and thats why I do no camping despite loving nature LMAO.

-sam, at least TRY TO BE NICE TO THE OTHER GIRLS YOU'RE GOING TO BE SHARING A CABIN WITH. also, the amount of times people in this show have their SHOES ON THE BED!!! IM DISGUSTED

-swamp creature Is A Ghost. Big Foot is a Ghost. starting to think in this universe, every single cryptid or legend is a Ghost Actually

-paulina crying not only because star is missing, but because SHE FORGOT HER SUNBLOCK AND SHE BURNS SO EASILY!!!! okay girlfriends

-ghost cops are the real monsters at the camp. i.......I mean. fair. no one missed you walker

-WULF!!!!!!!!!!! WULF IS BACK!!!!!!!! MY FRIEND WULF :D MI AMAS VIN!!!!! kaj danny lernis Esperanto :)

-'relax kid, we arent here to do any harm' *immediately shoots danny* yeah. ghost cops. and also danny bringing walker 'wulf' and walker IMMEDIATELY SUCKING DANNY IN A THERMOS. FUCK OFF

-haha walker Bald. and haha walker Frozen Now

-the fenton thermos can...reverse its polarity to close portals? okay

-LIBERA MIA AMIKO. :")

-ohhh they end the ep with them star gazing, thats pretty cute...

-dani is back! ...with a new voice actress? wiki says AnnaSophia was in 3 diff movies in 2007 when this aired, so she was probably too busy... (including, bridge to terabithia aka the movie that ripped my heart out that I mentioned in the first ep Dani was in...kinda wanna rewatch it now)

-shes still scared of vlad, who's still being creepy and spying on her. 'shes hardly going to come home to daddy!' I WONDER WHY. also does vlad's cat look more evil than last time? love the concept of him going shopping for cats and being like 'give me your most EVILEST looking cat, please, so I can pet it in my spinny chair dramatically!' ...oh god white cat hair on his black suit. I have a black cat and her hair is still way too noticeable..

-vlad has a big 'valerie' button in his office. can he be pressing that button every episode, thanks

-'theres a GIRL called dani phantom?' yeah valerie. no relation, obviously, even with her looking EXACTLY like danny. so sad valerie just wants to help her dad and her get out of the place theyre in now and vlad using her. ill MAUL HIM

-dani having to STEAL FOOD. :( and valerie immediately being like oh poor kid :(( and trying to help her!!! and then dani immediately helping valerie!! this episode is starting SO well

-...and then valerie catching her. DAMN IT. and being surprised dani knew danny?? HELLO VALERIE I KNOW YOURE SMARTER THAN THIS. I AM SO SORRY THEY WROTE YOU THIS WAY. I STILL LOVE AND BELIEVE IN U !!!

-valerie lying her ASS off for a chance at gettin danny. ok <3 also 'they couldnt catch a ghost if it was living under their own roof' JSDHKJHNK

-danny. why dont you just tell valerie!! this would be so much easier if he was direct. there is NO way valerie would hurt danny (fenton) she'd be HORRIFIED. esp since she got on board helping dani!!

*is held* :)

-look at valerie and danny. flying together. about to go beat vlads ass together <333

-DANI SCREAMING AS VLAD IS MELTING HER. WHAT THE FUCCCK

-...fucking vlad convincing valerie hes a good dude with his stupid duplication. FUCK. DANNY JUST TELL H E R

-jesus christ how many times has danny had to watch loved ones die. even if she didnt stay perma-dead. glad they fixed her...

-valerie and dani pranking danny when he came out, oh :( cute...them havin fun and laughing together...babies

-BUT THEYRE JUST LETTING DANI LEAVE, AGAIN??? SHE WAS PREVIOUSLY STEALING FOOD. CHRIST GIVE HER A PLACE TO LIVE. OR A FAMILY. actually, I think it'd be really cute if, since danny isnt ready to out himself, dani went and lived with valerie?? dunno if her dad would have the money but,, it'd be a cute concept. big sis valerie...

-'tomorrow, it's game on!' 'and ill be ready to play!' THE FLIRTING....DANNY/VALERIE REAL

-oh my god,, valerie found out about vlad in the end. But he doesn’t know she knows!!! the DRAMA!!! HOLY SHIT THAT ENDING.

-this episode was. SO Much and probably one of my favorites out of s3. (I mean, there has been a gross lack of valerie this whole season, so thats not a hard choice to make...)

-FINALE EPISODE TIME.

-the title screen looks different! so no title card...

-vlad has his own fucked up satellite that looks like him?? okay. why does the animation look so different?? are they mixing cg in?? for what. anyway, vlad and the gang in SPACE. danny is 100% living his astronaut dreams rn

-'defeating frostbite' YOU BETTER NOT HAVE. YOU STOLE HIS COOL MAP. FUCK YOU VLAD

-wait oh my god. vlad is the final series boss, isn't he. I half expected a fake out, for another boss to show up midway, and for him to finally have to have a real truce with danny for this ep. ITS THE FINALE. VLAD FEELS SO UNDERWHELMING.

-And it's like-- his character isn't bad, i just feel like..he has more potential! they WANT him to seem like some smart super evil genius, but the way he's written makes that SO hard to believe...but the solid backstory and design is THERE and its FRUSTRATING.

-...DANNY CALLING VLAD OUT SAYING HE NEEDS THERAPY LMAOO THATS WHAT IVE BEEN SAYING.

-my grandpa technus is in the finale too :) 'well look on the bright side, at least im not downloading them illegally!' he says while stealing dvds. feels like hes calling me out. im watching this series on a bootleg website lmao. anyway, him turning the tech into a transformer. love that

-mASters BLASters sTOp diSAsterS shut the fuck up. you will never be valerie or danny. bite chomp kill. violence

-like this if u crie everytiem

-my god the 3d/cgi mixed in looks SO BAD IT DIDNT AGE WELL AT ALL

-the white stripe in dannys hair kinda rules tho. did he just KILL HIS GHOST HALF??? 'revert his human half back to normal' UM. you ever unkill yourself. why are his friends/jazz so mad about it, he'll be in a lot less danger!! christ. they can still hunt ghosts!! as humans!! if they want to!! hes 14 if he wanted to be normal. let him. vlads stupid little team has things COVERED apparently. why are they acting like this. jazz would never act like this. is this fake whats going ON

-oh my god jack was in a college band. vlad was also in the band. what did instruments they play. i didnt need that headline to tell me they sucked, but i want to KNOW MORE REGARDLESS

-valerie was here for 0.3 seconds.

-sam calling danny selfish. the audacity. no one is stopping YOU from hunting ghosts, girl. valerie does it!!

-I'm halfway through the episode and incredibly underwhelmed so far.

-why would they send jack and 3 teens to space to destroy the asteroid. why not professional astronauts. not even the 3 teens that have already been to space this episode...

-jack getting beat up by teenagers. ON TV. IN SPACE. I GUESS. I GUESS EVERYONE AGREED TO SEND JACK BECAUSE..VLAD SAID SO? we know it was to embarrass jack, but why would everyone agree. why didnt any other space program Do More or whatever, they sent like, 3 rockets/missiles tops?? no way

-danny attempting to punch vlad in the face. i WISH HE WOULDVE LANDED THAT HIT.

-vlad outed himself on live tv, on purpose? and BLASTED AT THE TEENAGERS HE HIRED. LMAO. HES HOLDING THE WORLD HOSTAGE, MAKING THEM PAY HIM BILLIONS TO STOP THE STUPID ASTROID. THATS YOUR GRAND PLAN??? REALLY. REALLY. im like. lmfao

-jack just now, on the last episode GETTING TOLD HE MADE VLAD A GHOST. THIS SHOULDVE HAPPENED WAY SOONER. jack's reaction was one of the only times in this entire show hes seemed human. 'an old friend? no. you? yes.' GET HIS ASSSS ACTUALLY. HE STRAIGHT UP LEFT VLAD IN SPACE. GOD DAMN. that is a Murder! I mean, I guess vlad could fly back to earth, but...I mean, he'll have to, right? no food in space. (that we KNOW of...)

-'thE WHolE EArtH, INTangiBLe?!' oh my god.

-...the white strand of hair somehow still had ghost dna, I guess, and getting blasted turned him back into phantom. I GUESS. I GUESS.

-the fentons being the first to clap for danny despite not knowing hes phantom...that was sweet. and very sudden character development, not at all gradual over the course of time or episodes like it probably should have been...

-sam and danny kissing. IT SHOULDVE BEEN VALERIE, BUT OKAY, I GUESS. also, its a little underwhelming, considering theyve kissed already...

-ALL of the ghosts being ready to beat danny's ass? really. no they wouldn't, they've worked together before, and some of those ghosts are friendly!! cringe. why is the last ep written like this. I mean they came thru at the last minute but. was really cringing for a minute there, why did they write it like that

-valerie is there for another 0.3 seconds! ....she should've been more involved. dani is also there! for also like 0.3 seconds. almost fast enough to miss. (btw, I think shes still homeless at this point, are, we going to...do ANYTHING ABOUT THAT IN THE LAST 5 MINS OF THE SHOW)

-the cgi smoke or whatever it is. this whole post is me saying the cgi is bad, but IT IS.

-'danny or should we say. DAAANNNNY.' this is like the 3rd or 4th time hes been outed damn, but to the whole world, again. and valerie saw, and is just. an extra in the bg clapping. bro im so mad.

-TUCKER IS THE NEW MAYOR? WHAT THE FUCK?? HES 14.

-i think. this is still linked to the dream ep a few times ago. hes still dreaming. this is a plot a 14 year old would write. this feels like a bad fanfic. so much got rushed, and not tied up. vlad wasnt really even the villain this episode, a fucking. non-being asteroid was.

-they kiss again. ok. sure. whatever at this point.

-VLAD IS NOW A FREE-ROAMING SPACE NOMAD. I GUESS. THATS. SURE. WHATEVER. THE END, I GUESS. cannot believe I'm saying this, but: they did vlad dirty.

-IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE HIM A VILLAIN, MAKE HIM A VILLAIN!!! DON'T MAKE IT A METEOR!!! STOP BEING WISHY WASHY WHO WANTS TO SEE DANNY VS ASTEROID!!! I didnt even WANT vlad to be the final villain because his character is SO back and forth (esp this season.) but he has done some FUCKED UP SHIT AND I WANTED THE WRITERS TO DOUBLE DOWN, PERSONALLY, IF THEY HAD TO MAKE HIM THE FINAL BOSS. the cabin ep where he basically held danny and maddie hostage? FUCKED. THE DANI THING? FUCKED. FUCKING COMMIT AND MAKE HIM ACTUALLY SCARY OR HAVE HIM FUCK OFF AND AGREE TO A TRUCE!! WHAT IS THIS DYING IN SPACE NONSENSE. (and, he will (fully) die out there, right? still half human, still needs food and water. I imagine he'll like, slowly half-die but this time his human side is dying. will he come back 100% ghost? we dONT KNOW. WE DONT GET TO SEE, ITS PLAYED LIKE SOME FUNNY THING AT THE END, THEN THATS IT!!! WHAT!!!)

-I don't know how to articulate how FRUSTRATING THAT IS. having him basically out himself and ''hold the world hostage'' does not track at all in my brain. like. he's always been scary because he is HUMAN, TOO. like, if he was 100% ghost, he'd be LESS scary, but vlad MASTERS has more power and influence than vlad PLASMIUS because of his position as mayor, his money, too, and his (supposed, s3 made me doubt it) intelligence/manipulation skills, and his being in good graces with jack made it HARD FOR DANNY. him outing himself for,, money and to 'control the world' i guess?? MONEY WAS NEVER HIS LIKE, MAIN GOAL. yeah obv he likes money and is materialistic and values his Rich Life, but hes got billions, the end goal? 1. getting maddie (and or danny as his son, but to me he always treated that as secondary) 2. ruining jack. this feels like they wanted to say 'oh he just wants POWER' which is. HMM?? OKAY?? obv he /does/ want power (usually over certain ppl, tho), but seeing him try to get it like this FELT WEIRD SOMEHOW. weird like the ep where he tried and failed to take over various historical civilizations, because like,, how is that realistically going to do anything for him?? just, being in that time forever and never seeing maddie aka Goal #1 again?? HELLO??? this was like that, but worse

-this was such a weird ending to an entire show. why did season 3 only have 13 episodes?? why did it feel so weirdly paced?? WHY WAS THE ENDING LIKE THAT. I think. I am going to pretend I did not see that. fucked up, dudes. I'm like...hm. I shouldn't have watched that because now I'm mad. valerie sweetie im SO sorry you shouldve been more present. it felt like..if they knew this season was going to be short, and the last season, they should've spent more time wrapping up EVERYONE'S plot lines for the entire season. imagine how cool it wouldve been if every single ep of season 3 was working towards something, a big, nice wrap up at the end, with nothing feeling TOO rushed because they'd been heading towards the End for the whole season....

I will probably end up writing a follow up full series thoughts post. In a couple of days so I can sit with my thoughts. BUT. overall, I really liked the show! (ignoring the finale and some of the moments that aged pretty poorly...) it was charming and a fun concept and very fun to watch in general :) and I am pretending the finale didnt happen <3 and I’m gonna dive RIGHT into the dp tags and mix fanart and posts in my queue, very excited to run and look at that 🏃🏻 (and, of course, make more fanart myself hehe >:3)

#dp thoughts #danny phantom #sanchoyorambles

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otpnessmess · 5 years ago

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For you, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do Pt. 3

I ended up beta reading this myself, which only means I made it angstier and longer so..yeh. Coronavirus social distancing going great over here, hope you’re all safe! Enjoy!

Ao3 - Masterlist

First - Previous - Next

Old habits kicked in hard as Marinette slipped into Ladybug mode and turned to Jason with a determined look in her eyes he knew very well despite not having seen it for some time now. She sometimes showed an expression resembling it in her daily life, but it never quite felt the same as when she had first gone out on patrol with him.

The young woman had renounced the Miraculous in favor of keeping them safe, but he could tell she sometimes missed the feeling of freedom they brought. So one night he dropped through her window in the middle of the night, way after the bats had ended their nightly rounds, and offered to take her out.

That was the first time they had soared together over the ceilings of Gotham and the sight of her bright smile only made it so Jason fell even harder for her.

Their outings had to be few and far between, since Marinette refused to let the presence of the Miraculous be known, which meant they had to be extra careful before heading out. It became a thing they rarely got to share but, at the same time, it only made them relish it even more.

The man loved seeing her laughing happily while jumping from roof to roof, even if it distracted him a whole lot. He could still feel the ache in his bones from that one time he was too busy admiring her he didn’t see the chimney in front of him. Marinette loved teasing him about that...

"I’ll see if I can help get some people out while you go change Jay.”

All of his fantasizing was shattered by those words as he saw his best friend about to bolt towards danger. She would have left him there with no response had he not grabbed her hand in a desperate attempt to knock some sense into her.

“Nette, wait. You don’t have a Miraculous and we don’t know what’s going on, how many people are there, or who even is attacking. I know you want to help but you should remain unseen, or just escape. We’ll handle it.”

He should’ve known his belle wouldn’t listen to his pleads to remain out of danger’s way, that wouldn’t have been her. If there was someone that needed saving, she would do everything in her hand to help, and Jason could never ask her to ignore that part of herself. Still, he could at least try to convince her not to do anything utterly reckless to the best of his abilities.

The bluenette held in a sigh and was ready to start an argument they really shouldn’t be having in a moment like this. “Jay-”

“Marinette, please . We’ll take care of this, there’s no need for you to endanger yourself more than necessary.” She still didn’t seem convinced enough and in a somewhat panicked effort to get through her he blurted out “What if it’s the Joker? I know you can handle yourself but I still worry. I don’t want to lose you.”

Her eyes softened at the pleading tone of his voice, and next thing Jason knew he was being squeezed to death in another hug. His arms instinctively held her close as if she would disappear if he let go, which he wasn’t sure wouldn’t actually happen.

"That's a bit hypocritical of you if we're being fair, isn't it? I have to see you put yourself on the line to fight crime all the time too.” That made the man feel slightly guilty and blush, she was right. Wasn’t she the one always left behind when he was called to a commotion, wondering whether he’d be back or not?

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to be complaining about it as much as trying to get him to ease his worries, her soft voice mumbling reassuring words while her hand didn’t seem to want to leave its place over his heart.

“I'll be as careful as I can Jay, I promise to avoid unnecessary risks. Now let's go, we can't waste more time."

Giving him one last quick smile she then finally took off, leaving Jason to push his feelings to the back of his mind with a sigh, longing after her warmth. He didn’t allow himself to sulk, though, there were people in danger, and the fastest this was solved the earlier he could get home and watch movies in their pajamas with Mari.

Knowing the high number of rich and powerful people in attendance was very likely to attract some of Gotham's best-known villains like a moth to a flame, Bruce had adopted the habit of reserving a designated room in whatever venue he was organizing an event where the bats could safely change into superhero attire if there ever was a need. Jason would’ve liked to say they hadn’t had the need to use it that often but that was simply not true. Villain break-ins happened more often than not.

Having memorized the blueprints of the building as part of the protocol, he had no trouble finding his way to where his siblings were already getting ready. Barbara and Tim had set up an operations center earlier in the day so they could stay close to monitor the situation and were handing out the intercoms.

Jason immediately started changing while Dick tried to get input on what was happening on the lower floor. “What do we have on our hands this time?”

Tim, who had just put up the surveillance footage from the main hall cameras on the several monitors in front of him, was the one to answer. “The Penguin and about 20 other people stormed the hotel, all of them armed and if I had to say, probably here for the auction pieces. Around 200 civilians still remain inside, the rest managed to escape before they closed off all the entrances. The balcony and main doors are heavily guarded inside and out but there are still a couple of safe access points through the windows and ceiling. They shouldn’t spot you until it’s too late.”

By the time the report was finished everyone was ready to head into battle. Bruce established disarming the attackers as a priority but, should the opportunity show itself to allow more people to escape, they should focus on that. Quick last-minute directions were given before they were all off, knowing perfectly well every second wasted meant a higher chance of anyone getting hurt.

While this was happening, Marinette had barely managed to make it back to the ballroom doors. People were screaming and in such a haste to get as far from the chaos as possible they were shoving each other out of the way, which meant going in the opposite direction with a puffy gown proved to be incredibly hard.

Once she reached the main entrance, though, the petite woman came to a halt before hiding behind a wall. It had been blocked and a minion stood before it with a rifle in his hands. Just great. She doubted she could get inside without being spotted now, and that made her feel utterly useless.

Despite knowing his friend and his family would be here soon to make quick work of the situation, the urge to help people had been embedded deep within her after so many years battling Hawkmoth and wielding a Miraculous, and she despised having to watch from the sidelines.

Unfortunately, as if some kind of higher power had heard her thoughts, she got pulled out of them by a very loud yelp some meters away from her. The guard had spotted a couple coming back from one of the many minor hallways of the hotel, seemingly oblivious to the transpiring events. His gun was now pointed at them and the man had a wicked grin in his face.

“Oh my my my, what have we got here? Get inside!”

He moved towards them with every intent to push them inside the room, more hostages to be used to bargain with the vigilantes. What he didn’t expect, however, was that turning his back to Marinette’s hiding spot would give her an opening to grab a nearby vase and crack it on his head from behind, knocking him out.

The scared couple thanked her in a rush as she directed them towards the hotel doors, urging them to run. She was relieved they listened since a moment later another minion that heard the commotion had approached her with a rage-filled scream when he saw his partner bleeding on the floor.

Marinette’s training was still useful even if she wasn’t transformed and helped her evade the attacks that were being directed at her body. The man had forgone his gun in favor of trying to mess her up with a deadly-looking knife, thinking she would be somewhat of an easy target.

Fighting unarmed against an armed opponent, especially while wearing a dress and heels, was bound to go wrong though. He managed to land a couple of hits on her in her arms and shoulder, the stinging and extra weight of her dress starting to make her falter. However, before he could take advantage of this and land a deadly blow, Red Hood had already punched him so hard his body landed on the floor, unmoving.

“Worry not Princess, your knight in shining leather is here to save the day!”

Always a lover of the dramatic, Jason bowed with a chuckle before being shoved by Marinette behind the same wall she was hiding earlier, the bullet grazing him on the side.

“Careful!”

More and more attackers were approaching from their positions guarding the entrances because of the ruckus, and they didn’t seem keen in being merciful to the duo. Her mind was running at a thousand miles per hour, coming up with plans to get them both out of this in the easiest way and with the least amount of injuries possible.

Jason, though, didn’t give her the chance to ponder this for long before he reached to cup her face, told her to run, and jumped in to square up against all the goons by himself, trying to give her an easy escape route. Truth be told, he would have probably been able to take on those guys enough for one of his siblings to show up and help him out. She did hear him call for help into his intercom after all.

But she also saw how at the minimum display of struggle a guy landed a shot to his head that, even if it merely cracked his helmet, had Marinette’s heart racing and her throat tightening. This was still her best friend in that suit, and she’d be damned if she would play bystander while he was endangering himself.

Utilizing the shadows as cover, she hurried to pick up the guns and knife from the fallen men near her and gulped at the implications of it. It weighed in her hand and mind, what she was about to do. However, she didn’t allow herself to dwell on it. Those men could live without a hand, or a foot, but she could never imagine a life without Jason.

Thanking the heavens that she had accepted his offer to teach her how to shoot, the bluenette first went for the ones on the sidelines holding the guns. The sound of the weapon going off was deafening in her ears, her arms were bloody and her hands were sweaty, but steady.

Five shots were all she needed before the only noises left were the ones coming from the men brawling. It seemed that the sounds of gunshots were enough to attract their attention to her, making one of them point his own weapon at her.

Paralyzed in place, Marinette witnessed Red Hood knocking out the two men holding him back before going for the one focusing on her. She was extremely relieved seeing the last threat come down crumbling to the floor as Jason breathed heavily standing in the middle of the mess.

Marinette wanted to rush to his side and see for herself if he was okay, but as she tried to move she started to feel just how heavy her limbs were. Drowning in the sound of her blood in her ears, her head felt light and dizzy.

Looking down, she wondered when she had added sleeves to her dress, her entire arms coated in a beautiful crimson. Her eyes then glazed over the bullet wound on her shoulder, wondering how she hadn’t noticed it yet, before turning to Jason.

If Marinette tried really hard, she could hear him calling for her in agony. He was going to be so mad at her for not turning tail when he told her to. She hoped he could forgive her.

The image of her best friend running to her and catching her before her body could hit the floor was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

As always, thank you so much for reading! I hope to maybe update the 4th part at some point but don’t quote me on that, I try my best but I’m not always in the mood to write.

Tag list

@18-fandoms-unite-08 @vixen-uchiha @tbehartoo @queen-of-the-trash-planet-tm @queenmj10 @mochegato @stressedfan @bigpicklebananatree @novicevoice @crytallized @maribat-shenanigans @casual-darkness @kiara-rose-blackthorn @fertileleaf @chez-pezeater @shizukiryuu @marinettepotterandplagg @normal-piece-of-shit @theatreandcomicfreak @violatiger8 @corabeth11 @i-is-mysterious @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @weird-pale-blonde-person @iloontjeboontje

#maribat #jason x marinette #jasonette #ml x dc #liswrites #for you theres nothing i wouldnt do #pt 3 #miraculous ladybug

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percyscourt · 4 years ago

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imagine the movie Wild Child, but Silena Beauregard as Poppy Moore...

silena beauregard was born and raised in Malibu, CA. she lived with her mom, dad, and little sister until her mom died when she nine years old in a car crash. before the crash, silena was quirky, respectful, sometimes even quiet. but after the crash, she was like a totally different person. as soon as she hit middle school, she became a party-girl, and her nights weren't complete without drinking, dancing, or trashing somebody's house. of course, it also didn't help that her dad owned a million-dollar chocolate company and was rarely home

the last week of the summer before her sophomore year, silena's dad announced that his new girlfriend was going to move in with them. naturally, silena reacted with nothing short of a large ball of rage. when the moving trucks arrived, they were greeted by more than 100 teenagers that silena had invited over to take, trash, and torch all of her father's girlfriend's belongings

as if this wasn't enough, silena herself wanted to participate. silena scooped up a handful of clothes and started running full speed to the pool in her backyard. instead of jumping in the pool like everybody assumed she would, silena didn't stop running, but instead ran behind the pool to where the cliff looked down into the ocean, and dived in

right as she came up from the ocean, her dad arrived, and he immediately started kicking everybody out

flashforward to dinner that night, silena's dad tells her that she's going to boarding school.

in new york. and not the city new york, no, the countryside new york.

after dinner, silena stormed to her room. her younger sister, Lacy, came into her room and spent the night. they didn't get any sleep, though, but instead talked about their mom. "i've already lost her. i can't lose you too, S."

the next day, silena began packing. her friend, Kelly, helped her while lacy sat on the bed, talking about new york. "What if your school is like in Gossip Girl? That'd be awesome!" when lacy stepped out, silena and kelly looked at the school's website. the school showed a lacrosse field, outside dining pavillion, horse stables, a lake, and dorms. "could be uglier, I guess." kelly left, promising to call silena every night

the next day, silena and her father left early so silena could see the campus before classes started, and they drove all the way from california to new york; "S, it's like a roadtrip! Fun, right?"

it took them about two days to get there, and when silena and her dad finally get to the campus, it's two hours till dinner. as soon as she stepped out of the car, silena was met by the school's dean, Professor D. who introduced her to the school's head girl, Drew, and her friends

silena immediately takes an instant disliking to Drew, which is only increased when drew looks at silena's phone case. "'Pink is powerful?' Ha! Pink is weak- like you, I'm assuming." when drew tried to take silena's hand to shake, silena pulled it back roughly. of course, drew was taken aback. "You shake the head girl's hand out of respect." she yanked silena's hand

silena pulled it back. "When the head girl has earned my respect, then I'll shake her hand..

Biotch."

after drew and her posse stormed off, silena was introduced to Clarisse, her "big sister." while clarisse was nicer than drew, you could tell she didn't like silena either. all silena wanted to do was go home.

clarisse told silena to get any bags she needed and follow her to their room. when they got there, silena was introduced to her other roomates; Katie, Thalia, and Annabeth, though everybody just called Annabeth "Wise Girl"

when she got to the room, silena found out that technically she wasn't allowed to have her phone, except for sundays, and during the week it would be with her dorm's RA

silena hated this. this rule. this school. this whole thing.

two weeks pass, and silena wasn't any closer to liking this school, but also not any closer to finding a way out of it, either. her and her roomates barely talked, and when they did, it was snarky remarks or arguments

one night, silena ended up sneaking out after lights-out. she went to the school's computer room and logged into her email to write to kelly. after she wrote and sent the email, silena looked for the log out button so she could get back before anybody realized she'd left. right before she was about to log out, she saw somebody else sneaking around, just out of the doorway

it was annabeth.

silena left the computer to investigate. she walked out of the comouter room on her tippy-toes, looking this way and that for signs of anybody else. a thought popped into her mind, maybe she's meeting a guy, but as soon as that thought came, it was gone. silena creeped behind her and saw annabeth walk into a doorway. silena waited, counted to ten, then followed and peaked inside the room. it was the school's library. ugh, lame. silena left and started heading back to her room

when she was on the second floor on the way to the third, a fire alarm went off. scared of getting caught sneaking around during lights-out, silena hopped out a window and onto the fire escape. she walked on the fire escape until she got to an apparently empty bathroom. she hopped through its window

when she gets into the bathroom, she realizes it's actualky occupied. a voice calls out from her from behind the shower curtain. "may I help you?" it was a man's voice. holy hell, i've walked into one of my teachers taking a bath! "Uh maybe. I'm Silena Beauregard, sophomore, room 308. How do I get out of here? without getting caught, I mean." the faceless voice gave her directions and she ended up getting out without getting in trouble

a couple days later, silena is in pe class when she gets in a fight with drew. it starts out with a witty comment from silena, as it always does, but then drew threw the first punch. soon, both girls were rolling around on the ground, equally pulling hair and punches. "Silena Beauregard from 308?" it was the voice. silena looked up, but instead of coming face to face with a professor, it was a boy. a boy her age. "Charles! Hey, Charles! Hi, how are you?" Drew was quickly on her feet, rushing to shake his hand.

"Uh, well. Goodbye, now." Charles left, and silena found out that his full name was Charles Beckendorf, and he was the Dean's nephew. "How do you know him, fresh meat?"

"Aww, are you mad because you have a crush on him, old meat?" Drew's friends had to drag her away before another fight ensued

as she walked to her dorm from pe, a bucket of sewer water was dumped on silena's head, courtesy of one of drew's minions from seventh grade. silena wasn't alone, though, and turned around to see clarisse. clarisse laughed for several seconds before composing herself. "Okay, let's say we get yourself cleaned up, alright?"

after they had cleaned back up at the dorms, clarisse handed silena her phone. "We gave Mr. Brunner decoys; some old flip-phones. Go ahead and call your friend if you'd like."

silena calls Kelly but it goes to voicemail, and she texts her a simple "imy girly <3" instead

when all the girls are in the room, silena opened up about her mother's death and how hard it was at this new school. partly because they liked her, and partly because they felt bad for her, they all agreed to help Silena get expelled from school.

over the course of several weeks, the girls pulled a series of pranks; dying the lake blood-red, re-recording over Mr. Underwood's lectures, etc. they never got in trouble though, and the only thing the pranks were successful in doing was bringing the girls closer, though they didn't know it

after she realized their pranks weren't working, clarisse suggested a different approach: silena would seduce charles, and the dean would be so mad that he'd expel her immediately

their plan was put into motion at the school dance a week later. the girls were allowed off campus, and they went shopping for dresses in NYC. while they were shopping, clarisse suggested they all get their hair done. Silena went along with them, then even ended up swapping her platinum blonde curls for her natural raven-black waves. when the hair stylist was done, she realized with a shock that she looked exactly like her mother. she liked it

the girls showed up twenty-five minutes late to the dance, per silena's suggestion to be fashionably late. they were by far the most dressed up and stylish there, also due to silena's large interest in fashion and design

when they got there, charles was standing in a corner, awkwardly talking with drew

"Hey, Charlie, wanna dance?"

They danced, though it was more like Silena danced and Charles just standed there and watched. "Nobody ever calls me Charlie, y'know. It's either Charles or Beckendorf. I like when you call me Charlie."

in the middle of dancing, Silena tried some new move she had seen on one of her shows, but she tripped and fell on her head. charlie picked her up and took her outside to sit down. when she assured him that she was okay, charlie just started looking at silena instead. he leaned down to kiss her but they were interrupted by drew's followers

just as she was leaving, charlie asked silena on a date

the next day at school, silena was called into Professor D's office. he scolded her for not only for behaviour but also the fact that she had brought alcoholic beverages on to the school campus. silena sat silent through the whole stretch of this talk, waiting patiently for Pr. D to finish up and expel her. instead, her punishment was joining the girls' lacrosse team

after a good two weeks of lacrosse, silena had started to like it. she found out her mom not only went to the school when she was young, but also was the team captain to lead them to nationals, and silena was determined to do the same. somewhere along the way, she found herself actually falling in love with the sport. and something somebody else.

silena and charlie's first date was the day after her talk in the dean's office. charloe took her off campus to an underground bunker. silena was surprised to see that while it was a little packed, it was very neat and fresh-looking. "welcome to bunker 9." they had a picnic then went on a drive. the date ended with a kiss that made silena feel as if she was floating

when she got back to her room, she found Clarisse, Thalia, Katie, and Annabeth crowded around the computer. "What're you reading?" the girls turned around, faces mad and hurt at the same time. "Your email."

when she looked at a screen, silena saw an email from her account, though she hadn't sent one. it went on for more than a hundred words, with the summary being that she was only pretending to be their friend so they'd help her get expelled

silena checked her account to see that a similar email was written to charlie. both charlie and her roomates shut her out and refused to talk to her

upset and alone, silena decided to call kelly. when she did, she found out that kelly had been sneaking around with Silena's on-and-off-again boyfriend, Luke, since the first week of them dating in eighth grade. silena deleted both their numbers. she sat there, feeling almost as alone as she had when her mom died

poppy was in the common room after lights-out when she really started to feel depressed. absentmindedly, she started playing with her lighter. the flame accidentally touched the curtain and scorched the corner. though she put it out before anything else happened, silena was so spooked that she decided to retire to her room. as she walked, she heard footsteps, and her slow pace turned to a fast sprint

a few minutes later as she laid awake in bed, silena turned her head to see that outside of her window the common room was on fire. silena got up, started yelling, and slammed down the fire alarm to wake everybody up

once everybody was evacuated, the teachers started doing head-counts. silena and her roomates quickly realized that one of their own was missing. "ANNABETH!" silena pushed past the crowds, ran past the firemen, and made her way to the library. when she got there, she saw Annabeth trapped behind a fallen bookcase. silena, dizzy and bleary-eyed, led annabeth until they reached the kitchen, and the firemen carried out the collapsing girls.

after the fire was successfully put out, charlie pulled silena aside. when she tried to talk about the email, he only shoved her lighter into her hands. "I believe this is yours." he refused to listen to her explain and walked away, fully believing that she was the one who started the fire

the next day, silena sat in the dean's office awaiting his decision. ironically and cruelly, she found herself wishing not to be expelled. though she held off for a while, she started crying. she couldn't tell if the tears were because of the fire, or her friends, or even her mom, but whatever the cause they didn't stop. until somebody called her name. "Silena"

silena looked up to see charlie staring her right in the face. "I believe you. It was an accident, wasn't it? Tell me everything."

later that day, silena was set to attend a hearing concerning her future at the school. at the hearing, she told her side of the story, starting from when she first got to the school, and her roomates realized she didn't send the emails

they quickly left the hearing, and silena was convinced they hated her

they returned after several minutes of investigative research and took the stand in favor of silena. they defended her against drew and debated back and forth until drew let it accidentally slide that she had saw silena put the fire out, then started it back up herself again

of course, the case was immediately resolved, and silena was cleared while drew was expelled

silena spent the next weeks preparing her team for their nationals game. when the gameday came, silena was surprised to find her dad in the crowd with the rest of the parents. mr. beauregard was equally surprised to see silena's new natural, happy appearance

silena and the rest of the team ended up winning their nationals game by a landslide, and afterward they had a party at the beach by camp

silena ended the schoolyear completely different from when she arrived. she was now officially dating charlie, her team was staying with her for three weeks in the summer, she learned more about her mother and became closer with dad, and she was finally, truly happy.

#pjo #riordanverse #riordanverse au #pjo au #silena beauregard #annabeth chase #luke castellan #thalia grace #katie gardner #clarisse la rue #charlie beckendorf #charles beckendorf #wild child #wild child au #pxrcyscliche #pxrcyscliche au #drew tanaka

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supermoviemaniac · 6 years ago

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DEFENDING...

THOR: RAGNAROK!

Okay, so yesterday I asked you guys which is your least favourite MCU movie and why. I said I'd take the most commonly disliked film and try and defend it, using my personal reasonings as well as attempting to counter what issues you had with it yourselves.

Firstly, I'm quite surprised that Ragnarok was the most hated! I was expecting Age of Ultron or Iron-Man 3 (though they weren't too far behind). To make it clear, it's okay to dislike this movie, my attempt at defending the movie is just a bit of fun, but if it lets you see and appreciate the movie in a different light then that's cool! If it doesn't then that's cool too! Here goes...

I'll start with why I personally love Ragnarok, and how it was actually my favourite MCU movie, until Infinity War inevitably took that spot.

Thor was the first character in the franchise to introduce outerspace, and the cosmic side of the cinematic universe. With Iron-Man, Hulk and Cap being restricted to Earth, Thor was key to broadening what types of stories they could tell, what sort of threats and stakes could arise etc. The first Thor movie was certainly a bold move at the time, hoping that audiences would embrace the fantastical themes that he and Asgard brought to the table. Bar Thanos, Thor and Loki are the reason sh*t's going down in the first Avengers movie, so you have them to thank for that.

Flash forward to Dark World however, at this point we've seen Asgard already, so the novelty has worn off slightly. As much as the movie expands our view of Thor's home, we still feel very restricted, as though we're only seeing through a keyhole, when we actually wanna bust the door down and see what an outerspace adventure could really offer, hence why people gravitate towards Guardians of the Galaxy so heavily, because it let loose and didn't feel like it was shying away from the sci-fi elements that made the property what it was.

So with Dark World leaving a bad taste in our mouths (even though I think it's underratedly funny, but perhaps another time), and Thor not quite standing out in Age of Ultron, we're left thinking, do we really even want another Thor movie at this point? Something had to change. The studios' take on Thor was good in ways, but wasn't gripping people as much as say Iron-Man and Cap. If Captain America could have an amazing sequel, why couldn't Thor? With the damage already done via Dark World however, Ragnarok had to be Marvel's shot at redemption and reinvigoration, and I personally think it was.

There's no arguing Ragnarok was a bold step to take Thor, though not everyone agrees it was for the better. Could the Thor we were used to still work given the correct writing and direction? Who knows, but with already 'failing' once with Dark World, it was surely less of a risk to go for something completely unexpected. We go from majestic golds and elegant architecture, to crazy, vibrant, jagged imperfections that you'd expect to see in a retro sci-fi movie. The Thor we knew and expected has lightened up a little, during his few years between Age of Ultron and now, scouring the universe for information on the Infinity Stones. No pun intended, but perhaps his absent couple of years provided some much needed soul searching. So to those that wonder why Thor is suddenly so funny and witty, he's been out and about off-screen for quite a while loosening up! That's how I like to see it at least.

In the first 10 minutes, we're given more cosmic calamity than any of the other Thor movie has provided in their joint runtimes. He's in the fiery realm of Muspelheim, kicking the crap out of hellish minions and their giant demonic flame lord, Surtur, whilst the Immigrant Song plays. Then moments later, there's a damn dragon beast that's on fire that chases him, as the coolest little synth melody twinkles in the background. That cool little action scene not only gave Mjölnir the ultimate send off, but I remember thinking just from that point, "This is what Thor movies are meant to be like! This is already my favourite MCU movie!"

I think the comedy is people's biggest issue with the film. Admittedly, the style of humour was a little jarring at first, but I soon let go of doubts and embraced what the movie was trying to do. Notice how I said 'style' of humour, and not just 'humour' as a whole, because a lot of people forget just how comedic the first two Thor movies actually are. I feel like humour allows a sort of alleviation to what could potentially be something rather odd on screen. That way, if the movie embraces it's outlandish source materials, the comedy allows us to laugh with it, rather than at it. I think people are okay with the inclusion of comedic elements - I think they just weren't expecting the amplification that it had. So as I said, you can either let that ruin the film, or you can embrace/accept it, because there is just as much heart in this film as there is humour.

I know there's people that think Hela was wasted. Having watched these movies countless times, I rarely see any issues with villains anymore. The fabled 'villain problem' springs to mind, where everyone says that they were just there as a device to make the hero save the day. But what's actually wrong with that technically speaking? And how is that any different to other movies outside of the superhero realm? I see most of these villains as stepping stones for the heroes. These movies belong to the heroes, so the way I see it, the villains are there to develop and shape the good guy into whatever the finished product may be by the time the credits roll, just like all the other characters do in the movie. To prove this point, everyone loves Thanos as a villain, but that's because Infinity War was his movie, given the amount of time spent with him. I think the only exception is Loki, but his character is so well-received because he sits within the grey area of good and bad. We've seen both sides of him now.

Yes, I understand that villains are a little lack luster in most of these movies, but I liked what Hela brought to the franchise. We get the shock of discovering Thor has an older sister, she manages to take over Asgard, she demolishes everything in sight, she was the reason Thor is reinvigorated via his new right eye and weapon, she forced Thor's hand, making him enact Ragnarok (even though there's no stopping Ragnarok but it was a cool twist) and destroy Asgard, she was the first main female villain at long last, and she had a giant wolf. Some films spend more time with the villain, and some sacrifice it to focus more on the hero. There's never a straight 50:50 between good and evil in their storytelling, and I imagine it's always a hard call to make when balancing and ensuring that not only do the audience care for the hero, but also everything and everyone around them. Regardless the solo hero is always the focal point. Unless you're watching Breaking Bad or American Psycho or... *Lists shows and movies told from the bad guy's perspective*

I think the underlining disapproval stems from the fresh direction that it took. His hammer goes bye-byes, his warrior friends die just like that, Thor no longer looks or acts like the Thor we're used to, and Jane moved on. People will either be okay with those things, or it'll be too much to accept. Was the film too bold? Perhaps, but Thor can conduct lightning through his body now and that fight scene on the Bifrost bridge was badass.

Jokes aside, I suppose it's up to the individual audience member to decide whether or not the change is too much. A part of me wishes that the Thor we currently have was the Thor from the get go - things would've been different, but I love the character no matter what weapon or haircut you give him. Ragnarok gave the God of Thunder the opportunity to prove why he's a badass and not just a guy that relies on a hammer. They turned the dial up on his power level, and then again in Infinity War, which is good because I feel like prior to Ragnarok, Thor was kinda just there, y'know?

Everyone has their own favourite and least favourite movie, and no one should force you to alter your personal interests and disinterests, but if I were to wrap up what I thought of the film, Thor: Ragnarok to me is a fun, crazy joyride from start to finish, that provided a lot of heart as well as light-heartedness. It introduced some new, diverse characters whilst also giving the Hulk a much-needed story arc. A bold game-changer for the character and the lore he contributes to the MCU. It's the type of change I can appreciate and most definitely get behind!

What do you guys think? Have I swayed your opinions, or do you hate the movie more now! Let me know. Thanks for reading! Shall I do more of these? Let me know that too. I'm off to buy snacks and watch Ragnarok now, no joke!

#marvel #comics #cinema #movies #mcu #avengers #film #comic books #disney #thor #ragnarok #story #endgame #funny #chris hemsworth #tom hiddleston #tom holland #sebastian stan

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wolfpawn · 5 years ago

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I Hate You, I Love You, Chapter 49

Chapter Summary - Tom spends time with his family while Danielle spends time alone.

Previous Chapter

Rating - Mature (some chapters contain smut)

Triggers - references to Tom Hiddleston’s work with the #MeToo Movement. That chapter will be tagged accordingly.

authors Note - I have been working on this for the last 3 years, it is currently 180+ chapters long. This will be updated daily, so long as I can get time to do so, obviously

I doubt the real Emma Hiddleston is like this, but we will just go with this for now.

tags: @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @jessibelle-nerdy-mum @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @hiddlesbitch1 @winterisakiller @fairlightswiftly @salempoe @lys-syl @youcantcatchafallingstar

If you wish to be tagged, please let me know.

“So, how was sharing the bachelor pad with a woman?” Tom frowned at his sister. “No one, not even the world-famous Taylor Swift, was allowed stay there more than a weekend, yet Danielle remained there for over a fortnight, and your words earlier were, and I quote, ‘to not let her get sick of you’ meaning you were completely at ease with her being there.”

“Well, for the record, Taylor never even went to my house, we came straight here, and you are making me sound like some sort of philanderer.” Tom retorted. “It is not a bachelor pad, I just didn’t want just anyone invading my home.”

“Ah, so good then?” Sarah smiled. “I’m glad. For the record, she is the first woman in years that I actually think is good for you.”

“She is the only woman in years other than Taylor, I haven’t had a relationship in quite some time.” Tom pointed out.

“Stop it, Tom, you know what I mean, she is ambitious but not in a way where she will ever use your name to get ahead, she is smart and she can see through Bull and call people up on it.” Sarah looked out on the water. “It’s all you could want.”

“She is more than that, fun, funny, happy, careful yet carefree, and she just...there is something so soothing about being around her. There is so much noise and bright blinding lights in my world, yet she just somehow manages to sit there and when I am with her, it doesn’t seem to overwhelm me as much.”

“Aw, my brother is smitten, it’s actually so nauseating.” Sarah joked. “Well, in case you didn’t know, the feeling appears to be mutual.”

“Wait, did she say something when you were shopping?”

“Say, no, she said nothing. Her demeanour and smile, however, said everything.”

“When was this?”

“After your joke about her being the underpaid minion forced to do your shopping, she was smiling like an idiot at the phone, unable to stop herself, it was adorable,” Sarah informed him, laughing slightly when Tom’s face lit up at her words.

“Elle?” Tom walked in the back door of Danielle’s home with a well walked and happy Mac by his side. He could see from the used plates that she had eaten something, which was something of a relief to him. Listening intently, he heard her shower upstairs, so he decided to go and collect the rest of his things to bring over to his mother's. When the shower turned off, he smiled, imagining Danielle dripping wet and smiling as he hoped she would be, being back at home and having all of her work completed. “Elle, I’m in the hallway,” he called out, not wanting her to get startled if she heard him.

“Okay.” was her reply. “You going to your mum’s?”

“Yeah, I am going to catch up with everyone for a while.”

“Good, have fun.”

“Are you going to come by?”

“Maybe in a little bit,” the door opened and she stood in front of him with only a towel on, trying to get the excess water out of her hair. “It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, so I need to sort out a few things here, sort the electric bill and all, post a few things that need to be done by New Years and get a bit of a shop done, I may have eaten everything in the fridge.” she smiled.

“You haven’t paid your bills?”

“I have, they are all direct debit, but I like to organise them all because I am a weirdo who likes to see where I spend my money.”

“My accountant would love you, in fact, he would get down on bended knees and ask you to have a stern word with me.” he grinned, leaning down to kiss her. “So, will I see you this evening?”

“More than likely then,” she nodded, smiling back at him. “Had you guys a nice walk?”

“Great, we had Sarah with us too, and for the record, you are still “Ellie”.”

“I was hoping she wasn’t calling me that still.” Danielle grimaced.

“She is the Duchess, she calls anyone anything and all we can do is accept it.” Tom smiled. “She thinks it is ‘Euch’ that we kiss now, but is far happier about this.”

“That’s because I don’t call her stories stupid and allow her some time with her uncle unsupervised. Speaking of which, go have some time with your family.”

“I will talk to you in a small while, alright?” Tom kissed her again, smiling happily before turning and going down the stairs with his suitcase.

When she heard the door close, Danielle inhaled deeply, the smile she had forced onto her face long disappeared and went into her room to get dressed.

“So when is Elle coming over?” Diana asked after Tom had polished off three cups of tea and two slices of cake.

“Later, she wants to organise the house and get some shopping in,” Tom responded, putting his plates in the sink.

“Better to do it today than tomorrow, the town with be hectic.” Sarah agreed. “You not going with her?”

“She looked like she wanted some time to herself, she has been so busy with work that I think she hasn’t had time to just relax for ages, the closest she had to it was going shopping with the two of you and the week before Christmas on Oxford Street is not what you would call relaxing.”

“We had a good time.” Diana smiled, “But it is healthy to spend a few hours apart too, not be stuck on one another. Remember last summer, the furthest you were allowed go when you were here was to the shop with Jack to get some barbeque meat. That is not healthy.”

“Can we not mention the farce that was last summer?” Tom grimaced. “I am trying to pretend I didn’t almost lose my marbles.”

“Good plan.” Jack agreed.

For the first winter in years, it wasn’t stormy or freezing cold coming into Christmas, it was, however, wet. Danielle cursed herself for not hiring a car for the Christmas, since knew she would never drive the Jag and now with giving time for Tom to spend time with his family, it meant she had to cycle to and from the village, something that would not bother her, had it not been for the rain that seemed to be in extortionate abundance around her.

She knew Tom would be spending time alone with his family, and in truth, she wanted to have some time to herself too, but Emma’s almost demanding it caused her to feel upset, not knowing what to do about it all. When finally she got home, she brought in the bike and looked at the water dripping from it onto the floor, her vision blurred. She liked being alone, she was used to it, she was an only child after all, but she had seldom felt lonely, but at that moment, as she placed her shopping on the table, she felt very much isolated.

Looking at her phone, she noticed there was a missed call from Tom and then a message,

Tom - I hope you are having a lovely day Darling, we are going to be having a few drinks and probably a movie later, come over when you are done, everyone cannot wait to see you. Xxx

Danielle just looked at the text before turning her phone on standby and continuing to unpack her shopping. When she had that finished, she went upstairs and walked into the study room and stared at the bookshelves, inhaling deeply, she decided to reorganise them, she had new plans, and that meant an overhaul, it also meant she could keep her mind of Tom, Emma and the Hiddleston’s in general.

She had been so lost in thought, Danielle never realised her phone was ringing, clicking the answer button, she put it to her ear without checking who it was. “Hello?”

“Hello beautiful, how is your day going?”

“Fine, yours?” she put the phone between her ear and her shoulder and continued putting books on the shelf.

“Wonderful, it is so good to finally have some time alone with my family again.” Danielle froze at those words. “When you are going to town, let me know, I’ll drive you. It’s too wet out.”

“I already went.”

“What?”

“I went already, a couple of hours ago in fact, actually, I need to dry the bike, I completely forgot about it.”

“Why didn’t you ask one of us to drive you in, Elle you must have gotten soaked.”

“It’s fine.”

“Did you have a shower after?”

“No.”

“Elle…” her nostrils flared slightly at his scolding tone. “You should have said something, darling.”

“I needed the air.”

“Usually I would agree, but it has been bucketing all day, you cannot do that, you’ll catch your death.”

“You don’t get sick from being out in the wet Tom.”

“You know what I mean, it can’t help.”

“I am actually sort of in the middle of something here, can I call you back later?” she asked, not wanting to talk on the phone any longer, hearing his voice made her lonely for him.

“Sure, when you're done, come over, alright?” Tom had to force himself to control his voice to not show how taken back he was by her cold demeanour.

“Yeah, I just have my head in something here and I want to get it done, I will come over then,” she replied, doing everything she could to not sound so distant. “Have fun with your family, Tom.”

Tom did not get to say anymore before the line went dead, leaving Danielle looking at the device in her hand as the screen faded from ending the call. She simply looked around for a moment before going back to the job at hand.

“Is Elle coming for dinner?” Diana asked as she was plating up food for her children and their husbands.

“I’m not sure,” Tom admitted, half forgetting about Elle and her slightly odd behaviour since he knew when she was organising, she became somewhat one-track minded and having spent an hour playing card games with his niece.

“Well check.” His mother ordered.

Taking out his phone, he realised it was four hours since he had spoken to Elle and pressed the redial button on her number.

“Yes, Tom?” Her voice was distant and echoing as though on loudspeaker, the music in the background confirming it, as well as the sound of plates moving around.

“Hey.” He smiled on hearing her voice. “You having a mini-concert for yourself there?”

“What do you mean?” she asked, the sound of her sucking on something interrupting her words. “Sorry, burnt my thumb on my lasagna dish there.”

“The music,” He explained, “No worries darling, I was just ringing because mum was asking if you were going to join us for dinner.”

“I already ate, I am just putting the leftovers into different boxes for freezing,” she stated. “I am actually feeling sort of tired, I am going to head to bed early, I will see you tomorrow, alright?”

“Elle, it’s only eight, you were in bed until near midday. Are you okay?”

“Yes, you goof, I’m just trying to catch up on sleep.” she laughed slightly. “But thank you for worrying.”

“Do you want me to come over when I am done here?”

“Tom, spend some time alone with your family. I will still be here tomorrow. I know my bed is comfy, but I am sure your one there will do you tonight.” her tone light. “Will you really miss me that badly for one night?”

“I think I may,” he admitted.

“Well, I won’t lie, that’s a nice thought, you missing me. Goodnight Tom, have a fun evening with your family. I love you.”

“As I do you.” He returned. “Get some good sleep.”

“I will with you not hogging most of the covers.”

“I do not.” he declared indignantly.

“Yes, you do.” she began to laugh, but then it turned to a yawn. “Night Tom.”

“Night, Elle.” he waited for her to hang up and looked at the phone.

“Tom?”

“She had dinner and is catching an early night for herself, she said she will come over tomorrow,” he responded getting up from the table and going to the back door and going outside for a moment, looking over at Danielle’s.

“Hey,” he turned to see Sarah looking at him from the back door, “you okay?”

“Yeah, I just am worried about her.”

“Why, because she is going to bed early and wanted a day to organise herself? You’ve never been one to be stuck to another person.” She looked at him.

“She’s listening to sad songs.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Danielle is a person who shows her emotions to music, she is listening to sad songs, meaning something is bothering her,” Tom explained. “The fact they are sad love songs is making me worry.”

“Are you sure it is not just the radio playing random songs that just so happen to be those?” Sarah challenged. “You said yourself today that she has been pulling twenty hour days trying to get her paperwork done, she is probably exhausted, you cannot recover from that in one sleep in, especially when you did not get here until what time last night?”

Tom nodded, knowing it was true. “You’re right, I just don’t want to overwhelm her, but I really want her to know if there is something she is worried about, she can come to me. I think sometimes that she is scared I will cast her aside if she tells me things. ”

“Well then tomorrow, when you see her, tell her that. Telling your big sister while you stare at her bedroom is not how you deal with this, now get in and get some dinner and stop staring at her window, it’s weird.”

“Yeah.” Tom nodded, sighing loudly, before going back into his mum’s.

On the other side of the fence, in the other house, Danielle placed the lasagna dish to soak and covered the different portions of lasagna and put them in the fridge for the following days before taking her phone off the counter where she had placed it after Tom had called her and walking over to her laptop, x-ing off the youtube page she had been using to play different songs, as she looked around her empty house, where she only had her dog as company, after getting used to Tom’s presence for the two weeks previous, feeling a little lost in herself.

#I Hate You I Love You #chapter 49 #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic

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starberry-cupcake · 6 years ago

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Let’s talk about Disney’s live action remakes.

The reason why I get so mad at people citing “copyright issues” as why these movies are made isn’t just that it’s absolutely nonsensical and untrue but, mainly, that this stance of “it’s just for copyright” erases the responsibility of people who go watch these things, one after the other, during opening week if possible.

Iger’s entire CEO run so far has been focused on acquiring IPs and extending them, whether it’s on movie franchises, series or in the parks. This can be seen in everything, from overlays in the parks to the merchandise like the whole line of exact same Minnie ears with different instagram-sounding colors (Rose Gold, Potion Purple, Briar Rose, Cherry Blossom...).

In Disney Animation, the change was gradual.

The first instance was making Lasseter head director of BOTH Pixar and Disney Animation, something that happened after Iger purchased Pixar as a response to the conflict Disney and Pixar had during the late Eisner era. This placement of Lasseter started a “pixarization” of DA, especially considering that Pixar was doing well with their movies while Disney Animation was going through a tough period.

Pixar was born with the overall idea of being “anti-Disney”, a boys club group that wanted to make movies like the ones they saw growing up, so no musicals, almost no female leads, and trying to subvert (and sometimes mock) the most famous Disney tropes. An obvious exception was Brave, because it was created, written and initially directed by Brenda Chapman, until they took her out of her own project and gave it to men.

Not all Pixar movies are the same, I’m not coming for the entirety of Pixar, but the vast majority of the projects, especially the earliest ones, were drenched in this idea of not only being different from what Disney Animation was known for, but also having a lack of representation that has been criticized by people working there, including those who abandoned projects because of said issues, even before the Lasseter mess.

So, Disney Animation movies, although with some good solid releases, started including mockery to its own legacy, in a way that sometimes seemed a bit excessive. You needed princesses saying “I’m not a princess” or “I’m not going to sing” or “you can’t fall in love with the first guy you meet” even though then they do exactly that but with a different guy...you get my point.

This was also the beginning of considering theatrically released sequels, something Pixar was never shy to do (Toy Story 2 came out in the 90s even) but Disney Animation had never really done that, aside from isolated cases like The Rescuers Down Under (sequels tended to be for tv or home video release). It had been a preferred method, since Walt’s time, to keep moving forward and keep pushing the envelope instead of settling with their theatrically released feature length films, in comparison to shorts, cartoons or series meant for tv.

The idea for theatrically released sequels, though, was something other studios did indiscriminately, and whether the movies resulting on that were good, bad or terrible, the truth was that they made money.

As the measure for success in US cinema started to be circumscribed to how many millions a movie could make in the domestic box office during its first week, the profit started to be more focused on things that were immediately recognizable rather than new and original.

Going to see a movie you have no idea about isn’t as comfortable an investment as going to see something you recognize and know for sure you’re at least interested in. So, basically, movies like Ice Age 3 and Minions were making more money in the first week than movies like Big Hero 6 or Moana.

And, with that, let me bring back the subject of audiences’ responsibility.

A good portion of the internet at large, even more so tumblr, demands constantly for animation and specifically Disney to hold more representation in their movies. Then, when push comes to shove, they don’t support those films as much as they claim they would.

There is a double edge discourse with them, because when a movie with some form of representation happens, they’re held to a higher standard and when something doesn’t feel good enough, internet culture “cancels” it without giving them a chance. But when the movies don’t even try, there’s nothing much to dissect, so they get a pass (something that happens with all of media and not just movies).

So, when you look at US box office numbers, movies like Toy Story 3, Frozen and Incredibles (1 or 2) against Moana, Big Hero 6 and Coco (it’s important to note that these last 3 did better internationally than in the US but who cares about us, right?), the numbers aren’t supporting the demand, and most of those movies with representation had controversies regarding that BEFORE they were released, which affected the initial box office performance (sometimes warranted controversies, like the whole Día de los Muertos copyright issue, and sometimes completely unwarranted, like that “it was a rip off of The Book Of Life” which Disney had “previously rejected”, false accusations that were perpetually denied by the directors of both films, who were always in contact with each other and supported each other’s movies, but which caused massive online campaigns to boycott Coco before it was released).

So, with all this in mind, what better way to gain easy and safe box office numbers with not much conceptual work and get people in theaters in the first week? Bringing back already established successes.

Enter the live action remakes.

We could also dissect how Marvel and Star Wars play the same exact role but taking different approaches and having had different methods of establishing themselves with audiences, but that’s another couple of cans of worms I’m not willing to open here.

The live action remakes are, in essence, the easiest of the bunch to create. Differently from the animated sequels, the Marvel films and the Star Wars films, they don’t require new ideas for the core plot of the story. They change a few things here and there, some take more liberties, some less, but overall they can’t really change the story all that much without turning them unrecognizable.

Still, all of these remakes have specific pointers that assure good marketing for the first week of release: the use of a highly popular Disney film, the casting of very well-known actors whose ability to fulfill the actual needs of the role isn’t as important as how big their names are, initial teaser trailers that make it seem exactly like the original or, at least, use the same songs or similar shots, the use of increasingly newer movies as a base, employing very iconic and famous directors or songwriters...you get the point.

And, you know what? they pay off.

Live action Beauty & the Beast, despite receiving mixed reviews from fans, became in just one week and a half “the biggest live-action musical ever in domestic and worldwide grosses, not accounting for inflation”. People complained about it, yes, but that was after paying money to see it as soon as possible.

So basically, what I’m saying is, don’t act surprised about this. Don’t blame copyright and Disney and CEOs being cheap greedy bastards if you’re gonna go pay for these films opening day, however the cost. Because we’re all responsible for that as well, we all choose what to put our money on and which things to support.

The next time you talk about copyright, make sure you don’t already have your ticket for opening week, that’s all I’m saying. If you want them to stop happening, stop going to see them.

#disney #live action remakes #I was getting exponentially mad at these comments and I decided to post something #this situation got out of hand #disney live action #long post

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darkspellmaster · 6 years ago

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The Role of the Gentleman or Lady Thief and their Detective/Cop/Agent and how it relates to Carmen Sandiego Part 2

Okay now we can get into the Carmen, Chase, Julie, Zack and Ivy, and a bit of the chief (although for her I would rather discuss Acme and the Chief in their own post).

As I said in part one seen here the part of the Thief and the Detective is a lot of game playing and challenges. Both have their own code and work inside that code to lead their best life in their own pursuit of justice. Meaning in this case both the Thief and the Detective are trying to do the right thing, it’s just in a weird way.

There are a few things that stay static with Carmen through all her depictions:

1. She does this for the fun and challenge and not for any personal gains, though her team in some cases does.

2. She’s got a conscious and tends to only take things that she sees as valuable and won’t hurt others in the pursuit of it.

3. She was formally involved with law enforcement at some point.

4. Those that intend to catch her also are conflicted upon it because most of the time they see good in her and that she was their former ally/friend, so it makes this harder.

5. If there is someone worse than her doing bad, she will team up with the Agent to stop the other person from causing serious harm to the world.

So regarding this idea, let’s take a look at the old Carmen and her relationship with the Agent from the earlier games.

Back when Carmen first showed up in games, the player was the Agent sent to track her and her minions from Vile down. Her goals were simple back then, take things that traditionally couldn’t be taken and you, as the player or Acme Agent, were sent on a quest to find her ally and then catch her. Carmen and her team always seemed to leave some sort of trail, by game design as a means to challenge the Agent. Over the years she’s gone from a former Spy/intelligence agent from Morocco to being a former Acme Detective who decided there was more of a challenge in stealing than being the one to catch the baddies.

So as the player, our Agent may or may not know Carmen, but she always leaves them clues as to what she’s going to take and why. The Agent is then tasked with catching up with her and getting the item back and in the game it’s the holy grail to actually find her and bring her to justice for her thefts. Something that is not easily done. In earlier games she was formally a fellow Agent though not directly a partner, so the banter between her and the player could sometimes be a teasing thing as she would know how they would go about trying to solve the case, being a former fellow employee of Acme.

The games always gave a sense that Carmen was one up on the Agent, but never so far ahead that she would leave them in the dust, and always using a minion to give that Detective a push in trying to catch her. Her mouse to the Detective’s cat was more used by the publisher to get kids to think about things and understand different locations in the world, bringing about a better understanding of geography and culture. In some cases Carmen’s clues would actually give a lesson about the region or area that she was taking something from or something about the significance of it. This lead into how the shows would play her. Namely Where on Earth’s TV series, and Where in the World’s game show on PBS.

Looking at Carmen for the Game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? we get an interesting character in her vs. her computer game counterpart. Where as in the games Carmen is seen as someone playing a game, this version is more serious, and a bit more sarcastic. She leaves clues via messages and other means to the Agents (game players) who are being trained by the Special/Senior Detective, Greg Lee, who acts as a go between between the younger agents and the chief in finding her. Carmen herself only shows up near the end of the game, most of the time is spent working with her minions but it’s important to note that she, at times, get’s exasperated with those working under her, going as far as to call them dolts at points, or nearly sound like she’s about to roll her eyes at their weirdness.

What’s also interesting is that in the game show world we learn a bit more about her willingness to work with some rather unusual suspects when it comes to her crimes, and a majority of these became her rogue gallery. While there are only a limited amount of people involved, including an alien (yeah that’s real), Carmen seems to treat them with respect to a point, and is willing to work with them even after they fail her.

Her relationship with Greg and the Chief seems to be more playful, as the indication is that she sends them info about the case and knows she’s being tapped. However that doesn’t mean that she intends to be caught as the ending is having the player run around a map trying to locate where she is on different countries and continents. Her cohorts never directly talk to Greg, but ask him to allow them to speak to the Agent that’s the head of the case, and typically they want Carmen to be caught with them. Greg treats her like she’s someone who is amazing in her own way, but he never pushes the idea of her being “good” rather she’s just really capable and smart. It’s never explained if she worked for Acme or not, so the relationship to Greg and the chief is honestly unknown.

On the other hand you have her situation with our two leads Zack and Ivy in Where on earth is Carmen Sandiego? which is very different than what we see in the game show.

When examining Carmen and the two detectives in this show you have to consider the fact that the show is actually someone playing a game. At the very start of the first episode for the 1994 series, we see Player interact with Carmen who has stolen an item from the Louvre, and a taunt to catch her is issued. This leads to Player accessing the Crimenet where he gets Chief (a giant floating head in this show) to pull up Ivy, a detective for Acme, and her partner, her younger brother Zack.

Ivy is very much gung-ho about going after Carmen, specializing in various fighting styles and has a past with Carmen that we don’t know about. Given that she’s shown to be younger than Carmen, it’s likely that Carmen at some point may have been a mentor of her’s or, that Carmen made her screw up early on in her career with Acme. It’s not stated exactly what went down between them but Ivy is willing to create a fake villain in order to get close to Carmen to capture her.

It’s clear that Carmen has a lot of respect for Ivy wanting her to become the best that she can be and it shows. Not only does Carmen pick on Ivy directly in her taunts at times, but it’s also clear in later episodes that Carmen views Ivy as nearly equal to her in skills, though not in smarts, that she gives to Zack. Even when working with the two the conflict between Ivy and Carmen crops up in tensions, while Zack is less likely to be against the help that Carmen brings to the table when dealing with a far more dangerous character in Maelstrom

On the other hand you have Zack, who is the brains to Ivy’s brawn. Unlike his sister, who has a grudge with Carmen, Zack has no direct ill will for the Lady in Red. On the contrary, he finds chasing after her interesting and a great way to bond with Ivy. One thing that is key about Zack, other than his linguistic skills as he speaks a number of languages, he’s also got a photographic memory, which Carmen uses when she creates her clues that target his skills.

To Carmen while Ivy is someone that is staunch in her desire to bring Carmen in, she knows that Zack is a bit more understanding of a situation. At one point, if I remember correctly, the two siblings split to chase Carmen on their own, and both struggled without the other. Interestingly, Carmen was the one that brought them together in that case, allowing them to see that together they were a team that could take her down effectively, and it was something she treasures.

Carmen in Where on Earth plays a lot with the duo, and tends to pick and chose who helps her. She is cunning but not cruel in her quests and her back story is one that seems to line up with lots of later incarnations where she once worked for ACME and got board with saving the day, finding the criminals rather dumb. This is why she is so invested in getting Ivy and Zack to chase her because they are the only two that can, along with the Player, keep up with her and her thrill of the chase.

This brings us to the new versions of Zack and Ivy and their role in the story.

In this case Carmen is friends with them and met them by chance while in South Boston while staking out a donut shop which was a front for V.I.L.E. Some how both Zack and his sister Ivy got wrapped up in her actions to stop V.I.L.E. and bring them down.

In this reality is’t interesting to see how Zack’s past self, and the present version, mix in with that of Carmen’s Gentleman thief role in the story. As I said above Zack was sort of the Watson to Ivy’s more brute force Holmes, and acted accordingly in order to stop or capture Carmen. However here he’s more of the Get away driver for Carmen and her accomplice. Much like Impy Barbicane in the game Code: Realize, Zack acts as the one that helps Carmen escape her capture, being able to drive like a stunt driver helps a lot. He’s also, for his part, good at learning roles and can play them off even in tense situations and apparently good at thefts, though it seems more likely that Carmen taught him that.

Zack also seems to be the gadget guy in some cases, as when he was able to help deal with the situation in the tunnels in the Australian caper. Zack’s also shown to be close to Carmen, as she willingly bought him the car from one of his favorite movies, showing that she knows him well enough to purchase things out of friendship with him. It’s unknown how exactly Zack feels towards her, other than friends, but it’s clear that he treats her like a friend and ally willingly putting himself in dangerous situations to help Carmen and his sister out.

So here we see that Zack’s part has been shifted slightly but also retains that same respect he had for Carmen from the original show.

Ivy on the other hand has changed drastically. This version of Ivy is not the strong guy, as her moves have been given to Carmen it seems, but she did take Zack’s skills as a linguist and retained her disguise skills. Ivy, as with her original, is still stubborn and always teasing Zack, showing that they still retain a close relationship. She still is willing to put herself on the line for her friend, diving head first in trying to stop a rocket from launching, but they again switched her with Zack having her be less of the risk taker than him. I think they kept her fear of heights from the previous show though.

With Carmen though her role is slightly different. Where as in the original show, Ivy here is more a willing friend to Carmen and looks up to her. There is no issues between the two and it’s clear that Carmen cares deeply for her two buddies. As I said with Zack, Ivy is now her helper, being Carmen’s double and plant in a situation where Carmen needs someone to play a part for her. It’s clear that they want to give Ivy a role that is more associated with a closeness to Carmen and show that there’s a softer side to this sort of trio of thieves. As shown with the Rocket, she’s willing to do whatever she can to finish the task that Carmen has out for them, even risking her own life for it. It’s interesting to see that they’re showing that Ivy can have a close friendship with Carmen as it’s very different from the relationship that the detective Ivy had with Carmen in the older series.

As accomplices, both Zack and Ivy play a part in the thefts, but it’s clear that most of these are set up by Carmen and that she is the brains behind all this and the other two are in it for the ride. They want to help her, but I don’t know how much they truly know about their friend as neither knew about Crackle, nor did they know about Player and who he was. This brings up a question of if Carmen is actually training them for continuing the mission should she fail it.

Then we have Player.

Player in the original series was played by three different actors/actresses, over the course of Carmen’s first series. The Player character typically played the part of trying to capture Carmen via the real world and worked with ACME to discover the truth behind Carmen’s theft and the two traded banter a lot via messages on the computer.

Player was, to Zack and Ivy, not only a boss in a way, but also a friend and ally. In the 1994 show, the duo always knew that Player had their back and was willing to help them get where they needed to go using the C4 system (in the game you could use that to hop around the map for fast travel in later Carmen games), or pick up information for them and give them a report about things. Even when things were at their worst, Player is always there to lend Ivy and Zack a hand, showing a great deal of determination even in the face of Carmen’s tougher challenges. Player also is shown to care for the two detectives, as when they lost communication with them, during a trip in time for the duo, Player was legitimately worried about their safety.

To Carmen, Player is her Holmes. Player is always on the case and won’t stop till she’s caught and she adores the Player for it. Because Player is the only one that seems to get the fun that Carmen is having with all of this. Player isn’t one person though, and Carmen notes this in her comments to them. The two quip a lot against one another, even when Carmen loses, there is only respect shown for Player from her. It’s an interesting dynamic that seems to have transitioned over to the 2019 version of the two of them.

Player’s role in the new series though is quiet different. An ally to Carmen, he is a boy of about 16 or slightly older. We’re not sure where he’s at, but there are moments when it seems like he’s in their world and yet not. we have no name for him, but we do have a face, unlike the originals. We know that he’s a white hacker who is willing to dig up info for Carmen in order to stop V.I.L.E. and help save the day. One thing of importance here is that Carmen and Player have a close friendship, and are almost like siblings in how they communicate with one another. It’s clear that Carmen regards Player as her best friend, which is very different from the dynamic from the other series where Carmen was much older than Player and more world wise than this one is.

Player helps drive Carmen’s moral compass, and also helps her to have hope when things seem lost for her. For the two of them, Carmen is his eyes and ears to the world outside as it appears that Player likes to stay in his home, and he’s willing to trust her in regard to her plans and ideas, as he’s quick to trust her when they first meet, even if he’s not sure about things.

It seems more than likely that Player is going to be the Oracle of the team. Being the eye in the sky and helping out with the intell for Carmen, Ivy and Zack. His part in as far as the Thief’s role is actually the in between and probably will eventually end up helping out not only Carmen but ACME, being the one that can prove to the Chief that Carmen is more of a Ally than an Enemy for them.

Guess now it’s on to Julia and Chase...I’m saving him for last though.

Julia’s part in the story of Carmen is a tricky one to talk about. She comes from the Games originally, and was once a partner of Carmen’s back when she was working for ACME. Julie Argent considers Carmen to be the best detective in the world, and still does even when she switched sides. One of the key factors about her character in the game is her use of a journal and the intuition that she has about other people, something that seems to have transferred over to the new show.

It’s important to note that Julia has a bit of a complex relationship with Carmen, stemming from the fact that Carmen left while being her partner and that she feels that “Everyone” at ACME blames her for Carmen leaving. This is not true but her own guilt in losing her friend and partner to the “dark side” is a lot to bear and it’s something that weighs on her as a person. While she considers Carmen a friend, there is more to their relationship as Carmen sees Julia as “Opinionated” and she felt that she was a bit difficult to work with, showing that there was, at least on Carmen’s side, some animosity going on there.

In the games Julia is paired with the slightly Arrogant Agent Shadow Hawkins. A young man that believes that gadgets are everything, and that he’s going to catch Carmen. (You can see similar dynamics here in Chase regarding some of his behavior towards her in the 2019 series.) Shadow believes that Carmen can’t be redeemed while Julia argues that there is still good in her. During the game Julia begs Carmen to come back and tries to apologize for her past actions which, she thinks, made Carmen go bad. What’s worse is that during the story Carmen leaves mementos of their past cases at crime scenes for Julia to discover, either as a means of showing she still cares about her old friend or to hurt her (as Shadow thinks). Later game has Julia working with new agent Cole Gannon who seems more likely to want to catch Carmen for personal reasons.

Julia’s role in the 2019 version of the show is interesting as it keeps somewhat true to her game counterpart. We see early on that Julia is a very smart and capable officer of Interpol and working hard with the more arrogant Chase (who seems to be mixing Shadow and the original together) to catch Carmen. It’s clear that there is a slight back story here between them and Carmen, though we don’t know it yet. However, Julia’s willingness to observe and make good intuitive speculations on Carmen keeps true to her game counter part and shows that she’s the one that, until the last episode, believed that everything Carmen does is for a good reason.

Julia also is seen writing in a Journal and, unlike Chase, actually puts things together in a more proper way. She is, more or less, the wise assistant to the bumbling detective at this point in the story. However, it seems that they’re going to shake her up some with the whole situation with Chase being hurt. We see that that, in regard to Carmen, Julia is someone that could become an ally to help get ACME to work with Carmen since she can tell that Carmen is not your typical thief. Her patients with her partner is boundless to a point it seems, yet, Chase is willing to at least yell at himself for his bad behavior to Julia, showing that he does care about her and is clearly jealous of her superior skills as an investigator.

The issue right now with Julia and Carmen, other than their short meeting, is that they really don’t have a huge connection. Though Carmen seems to see in Julia what 1994 Carmen saw in Ivy and Zack, someone worthy of chasing her down. I feel like over time Julia is going to become more of a player in Carmen’s capers in taking down VILE, and probably working with Carmen’s older Mentor along with the Chief. Friendship, I’m sure, is on the line here for these two as they seem on the same wave length.

Chase on the other hand...is our main story focus right now.

So who was Chase Devineaux? Again originally from the games, Chase was Carmen’s partner and ACME’s top agent. The two solved a number of cases together, and like Julia, Chase felt guilty when Carmen left. So much so that he quit ACME to try to bring her back. He eventually returned to the service of ACME after Ann Tickwitee, Agent 12 and the partner of the player’s Agent 13, goes missing. During the story line, Chase acts as a mentor as well as a intelligence partner to Agent 13 and we learn he’s been trying to track down Carmen himself. After the fall of the new Tower and Agent 13′s rescue of Ann, Chase goes after Carmen himself with a Jet Pack, intent on catching her.

In the games Chase talks fondly of Carmen, noting their close friendship and respect for one another. To him Carmen is his equal in intellect and everything else, this was why he was heart broken when she left ACME and that’s why he’s trying to bring her back to the good guy side. He’s willing to do whatever it takes, even lock her up, to stop whatever she’s planning and there are hints in Math and Think Logic that there may have been feelings on his end for her. Like Julia he does have a moment where he tries to convince her to change her ways, but this leads to no where as she takes off with Chase giving, er, Chase. Chase here is far more of a competent person, giving you info as you go along, and trying to help you out of scrapes when he can. It’s clear that he intends to keep you safe from Carmen as well, since he’s ready and willing to throw down with her henchmen to stop her. He’s also a bit sarcastic and quips from time to time with the player as they go about their missions, giving encouragement and a friendly reminder that he’s proud of them for doing such a good job for such a serious situation. Also of note Chase is totally fine with sleeping outdoors if he has to, and really doesn’t complain unless you really start to screw up.

Chase Devineaux in the 2019 version of the show however...is more a Mix of himself and Shadow Hawkins.

This version of Chase is clearly meant to be a Zenigata type. From his outfit to his Interpol status, Chase here clearly has a connection to Carmen on a personal level, but he is no equal to her. He’s not that smart, more like Richard from Case Closed, or Zenigata from Lupin, not realizing that Carmen is at least 10 steps ahead of him. And like Zenigata he’s obsessed with catching her for a reason, even to the point that he doesn’t realize that she’s not the enemy, much like the early anime Zenigata before he started to realize that Lupin can be an ally at times.

Where as Chase in the game clearly has a deeper feeling for Carmen, and wants to basically save and bring her back. We don’t know how Chase feels for the woman he’s dubbed “Le Femme Rouge” though it’s clear that he’s enjoying chasing after her and has some weird level of respect for her as a person. Outright talking to her before he tries to capture her, and I think recognizing her even out of her traditional gear. It’s clear that something happened between them that made Chase feel that he has to catch her, but we’ve yet to see this.

What’s interesting here in their relationship is how much of a dynamic they already have in just one season. The playful banter between them shows that Carmen enjoys screwing around with Chase and only grows annoyed when he’s in her way about something serious. However we can also see that there’s some sort of tension there between them as he’s unwavering in his reasoning, going as far as to yell at his own partner over her. It’s an interesting moment when you see him confront her while she’s wearing a dress as we see from the quirk in his face that he’s sort of impressed by her outfit, where he’s used to seeing her in her normal gear.

Chase though is also just as tough as Carmen, going through what has to be a terrible experience with VILE when he’s captive. We’ve seen Carmen deal with pain, and we know that Chase can match her for the stubborn award. Dude downright starts singing louder at the threat of permanent brain damage and is still able to function enough to use his pen to get help. Given that he probably wasn’t 100% out of it his and Julia’s roles may switch next season, as he may start seeing what Julia saw in Carmen due to her wanting to help and protect him.

What’s interesting about this whole situation with the two is that it does build on the whole Arsene and Sherlock relationship. Carmen is the thing that can outwit Chase, even though we know he’s not that smart, but it’s clear that he probably has had success in catching other criminals before. You don’t get to be on Interpol without having a sharp brain. And, for the most part, he does go about doing things that can be seen as really smart. His tailing of Mime bomb, his chasing down Carmen in his car (even if he leaves Julia behind), his actually catching up with Ivy and also figuring out that something was up with the Dinner party that he was at. There’s clues all over that, if Chase was a bit more like his Game counter part he would be a match for Carmen. Which is probably why they avoided that in this case as it would be too much like the game and, well then Julia wouldn’t have a part to play in their Brains and Brawn duo.

It honestly wouldn’t surprise me if eventually we saw Chase and Carmen becoming friends and working together with Chase intending to eventually capture Carmen in a hope of making her a “Lawful” person. Another part of me thinks that there is a slight, given that it’s a kids show, possibility that Chase may have something of a crush on Carmen given that he’s got nicknames for her already.

Their pairing as the Detective and the Thief plays a huge role in how they play off each other. Carmen’s wit and willingness to play along with Chase shows that she, like Lupin, wants Chase to actually understand what she’s doing and probably be an ally in her cause. She uses him too, as a means of catching Graham and then later to help stop Tigress and the others in various ways. Chase for his part sees her as someone who is sharp and intelligent and he feels that he’s the only one that gets her, even though it’s clear that he doesn’t. But I think that, as I said before, we’re going to see more about their dynamic as a duo working to stop worse crimes while still playing their cat and mouse game.

In the end Carmen/Ivy/Zack and Chase/Julia, all play a role in continuing the idea of the tense suspense of a gentleman thief and their detective. All five characters are able to use their relationships as of right now to build up the mystery around the two groups and show that there is still a way to update the idea of the cat and mouse game. And personally I’m loving it.

#carmen sandiego #where in the world is carmen sandiego #carmen sandeigo 2019 #carmen sandeigo netflix #chase devineaux #julia argent #zack and ivy #gentleman theif #detective #where on earth is carmen sandiego

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mst3kproject · 7 years ago

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1003: Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders – Part II

So much for the magic-book-and-toasted-cat part of the movie. On to the bit everybody remembers best – the satanic cymbal monkey.

This half of the movie is actually parts of a film called The Devil's Gift, made twelve years earlier by the same director. The movie the kid is watching at the beginning of Merlin's Shop is the opening of The Devil's Gift, in which the demonically possessed toy kills a fortune teller by burning her house down. There is a similar monkey in Merlin's shop, but it is stolen and re-sold, and ends up being given to a kid named Michael. While Merlin tries to track the monkey down, it begins methodically killing every living creature in Michael's house, starting with plants, then insects, then the dog. Michael's father, David, consults a psychic who tells him to get rid of the monkey. He tries repeatedly to do so, but it just keeps coming back, and nearly murders the entire family before Merlin finally shows up to claim it.

The Devil's Gift segment is much more memorable than the Book of Magic one. Both the pacing and the acting are far better, although since the Book story was glacial and stilted, often giving the impression that it was just filling time, that's not hard. The Devil's Gift was shot on real film to be released to theatres, and its sets and props look like places and objects, not sets and props. As a whole it just feels more polished and authentic than the silliness of the Book of Magic, but since the two are intended to be parts of one universe, that's kind of a problem in itself. The attempt to blend them never works. Because Merlin is a retroactive addition, he can never interact with any of the main characters.

The original ending of The Devil's Gift had the monkey killing the entire family by blowing their house up with a gas leak. It also had a couple of extra subplots; the monkey gave David nightmares, the psychic came to the house and tried to do an exorcism, and the babysitter became possessed by the monkey (foreshadowed by the shot in which she creepily fondles it!) and tried to drown Michael in the bathtub. I actually think the story is much better for the loss of the last of those. One of the creepiest things about the monkey is how it manipulates events subtly, making it seem that this could all just be a freaky coincidence. The best example is the incident in which Michael is almost hit by a car, only to be saved at the last moment when David prevents the cymbals from coming together. To have the monkey work directly through a person is much less insidious.

All this outright scary stuff makes for a very odd juxtaposition with the lighthearted sequences involving Merlin and Zurella, and here it's even more pronounced than it was in the Book of Magic. It's made worse by the obvious difference in time between the Merlin parts and the main action. Although the director did try to match the costumes of the bit players in the Merlin sequences to the time period of The Devil's Gift (check on the 80's Dad Glasses on the consignment shop guy), the ten years' difference is still very obvious. There's also the difference in urgency between Merlin's quest, which he undertakes at walking pace and only because his wife nags him into it, and the psychic shouting get it out of your house MY GOD DAVID.

And of course, The Devil's Gift totally lacks the element of cartoonish whimsy that was present in even the most distressing parts of the book storyline. As I discussed last week, the horrifying results of Jonathan's experiments with sorcery are often treated as jokes. Even the book itself, with the dragon coiled around a giant jewel on the cover, looks like something off a Magic: The Gathering card. The Devil's Gift, on the other hand, has a very down-to-earth aesthetic, mostly lacking in anything visually fantastical. The effect is heightened by the early 80's palette of autumnal colours. Even the monkey itself is a totally ordinary object made of ordinary materials.

Which is not to say it isn't one goddamn creepy little son of a bitch. There's something about the monkey's staring red eyes and bared teeth that is really, really menacing. The mouth looks nothing like a smile, and the eyes suggest that it is watching your every move. This actually seems to be a fairly common gut reaction to this type of toy. If you do a google image search for 'cymbal monkey', one of the suggested sub-searches is the word creepy. Stephen King wrote a short story called The Monkey in 1980, which probably inspired The Devil's Gift – indeed, King accused director Kenneth Berton of plagiarism. The story also inspired episodes of Supernatural and The X-Files, a similar monkey was one of Lotso Bear's minions in Toy Story 3, and there are freaky cymbal monkeys in Fallout 4... which I like to speculate are there because somebody on the game's design team was a MSTie. While the other objects in Merlin's shop, the gnomes and crystal balls and wishing stones, look cute and whimsical, the monkey looks evil.

The sequence in The Devil's Gift that best matches the world of Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is actually the one that isn't presented as part of it. In the opening sequence of Merlin's Shop, the little boy is watching a movie in which a fortune teller is trying to contact a ghost name Thomas. The rest of The Devil's Gift is given to us as the story told by the grandfather after the power has gone out, and all the two appear to have in common is the toy monkey. The fortune teller looks like somebody Merlin might get along with, what with her silly outfit, her collection of woo-woo paraphernalia, and her ouija board. In a way, using her in this opening instead of in the body of the story actually kind of works, since she'd probably jar with the rest of the Devil's Gift material in the same way the Merlin's Shop parts do.

The constrast between The Devil's Gift and Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders also brings up the idea of coincidence. The monkey works through coincidence – the fire that leads to the death of Sparkle the dog while she happens to be locked in the garage, the series of events that nearly ends in Michael being run over by a car, the storm and earthquake, and the monkey improbably returning after David buries it. All these events feel like they're being directed by the evil spirit... but at the same time, they could just be coincidences. What about Merlin's search?

Nowadays if you wanted to locate a stolen toy it probably wouldn't be hard – look up possessed cymbal monkey on Craigslist. There's probably a whole subsection for haunted or cursed objects. In the early 90's Merlin has a rather more difficult job, in which he has to actually go out and wander around, asking people if they've seen this monkey, and he gives the impression he's got no idea where to start. You'd think he'd look specifically at places like second hand shops and such, or at least would have some kind of tracking spell that might lead him to lost and stolen merchandise, but he seems to just wander the streets, meeting up with the people who've encountered the monkey purely by accident.

This would make sense if the sequence in which Merlin and Zurella argue, flirt, and argue again had bothered to set something up to explain it. Maybe Morgana, who gave Merlin the monkey in the first place, would ensure it found its way back to him. But that time is spent instead on pointless comic relief, and so the coincidences where Merlin meets the toy sellers are just that – coincidences. As a result they actually manage to seem less plausible than a demonically possessed cymbal monkey! If anything's a sign that you need a rewrite, that's it.

I haven't seen The Devil's Gift in its entirety, but from what I've read about it, I suspect that the parts that made it into Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders represent the 'good bits'. The part where David has nightmares sounds pretty cliché, and I've already talked about my problem with the idea of the monkey possessing the babysitter. The psychic's enlarged role also seems unnecessary, as indeed does her having any role in this story at all. David could come to suspect that the monkey is sentient and evil without her help. The things that were removed from the earlier film make the story leaner and quite a bit creeper, and if you took them out of Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders they'd probably make for an effective horror film in themselves. The fact that it's still pretty creepy, even in the form presented, speaks eloquently to what it could have been.

I was dreading watching this movie again – so now that I have (twice!), was it really that bad? I feel like it was less icky and uncomfortable than I remembered it being, but that might be because the nastier plot points didn't come as a surprise this time. Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders is still definitely not something I'd choose to watch, however, except maybe to show it to friends and see them react to the nasty parts. It may not have been the ordeal I feared, but I'm glad it's over with, and I don't plan to ever revisit it.

#mst3k #reviews #merlin's shop of mystical wonders #90s

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askjonfreeman · 7 years ago

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JUSTICE LEAGUE (mostly) SPOILER FREE REVIEW

jumping back into this business of posting reviews. I'm gonna focus more on single page bits. TL;DR = It's a pretty good movie. Find the rung on the ladder that's labeled "good movie" and place this one on the rung just below it. While you won't mind actually seeing it, it's not exactly one to whole-heartedly recommend to people (hence the super weak 91mil domestic opener on a film with a 300-ish mil budget) How does it compare to BvS? - BvS is a total train wreck you can't look away from. - JL is a car crash that you can walk away from and still laugh about. ... micro spoilers ahead. be ye warned ... OVERVIEW Snyder started off with a 3 hour brood-fest marathon, then was forced to reshoot a lot of the film for overall course direction. Then after he left for family reasons, Joss Weedon came on to finish it out. Surprisingly, even with all this, it doesn't really feel like a schizophrenic mess. Though if you watch it with a savvy eye you can spot which parts were done during which phase of production. (and mind you, this is downhill slope Joss ... so expect the same "missing something" you experienced in Ultron) Also also, they trimmed it down to 2 hours 1 min. Basically cutting out a ton of fluff to get to the better parts faster (and I'm guessing a lot of the slower parts). This, coupled with the nack of banter Joss has, made it a pretty enjoyable experience ... just not a great one ... or a good one. But it is pretty enjoyable. THE GOOD Actors did their part and they did it well. - Batfleck is still the best balanced bruce/batman, which is a shame since he's not going to be doing it any more due to the hollywood sex-land scandal thing going on. Oh well. - The flash is one of the best parts, surprisingly - Wondie's still good (even with her habit of weird faces) - Aquaman ... my brothers and I think that Snyder wanted him to be OH SO COOL SO BADASS (which nobody buys) ... so Joss provided chinks in the armor to make him more human. So he's surprisingly cool - Cyborg is the weakest link, but you can't blame the actor. There's subtle nuances about how he acts and thinks inhuman in a convincing way. cinematography - This is snyder's strong point. Most of it carried though, but a lot of it got cut or reshot - But this got hampered by things below. so it's not as pretty as Snyder's other films. It's enjoyable - I didn't actively wish for the film to be over. THE BAD ... again, remember, it's enjoyable despite all this. THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING. action choreography - Imagine a 6 year old with toys going "and then he goes BWVOOOM and he flies over here" - That's a lot of what you get here. Broken physics, no consequences, tons of wtf, and a lot of repetition - saw it with extended family, my mom fell asleep in the final battle because it was repeating itself a bit snyder-isms - pretty pictures without meaning - a lot of it got cut, but there's still a good number in montages remaining - also, threaten the children. that's another snyderism - no Frank Miller whores, though art direction - is bad. Best summation is the badguy, Steppenwolf (who's a Jack Kirby minion of darksied) here's a couple of his Jack Kirby iterations (being a little unfamiliar, I'm not sure it's the same guy, or if he plays counselor and general at different times) www.cosmicteams.com/newgods/im… cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/den… and here's his more current iteration cdn2us.denofgeek.com/sites/den… - ... this is what we get in film ... i0.wp.com/www.heyuguys.com/ima… a 9 foot tall rubber cg giant wearing reject bayformers crumpled tinfoil. ZERO COLORS. - ... for reference on how to do Kirby right ... www.cinematographe.it/wp-conte… - this really gets bad when I have to second guess if it's a parademon or cyborg, since they're both 99% silver the CGI - even ragnarok had moments of bad CG. it happens when the budget gets stretched ... but this film had very few points of GOOD CG. (not sure if it's art direction or what) - and a lot of this is due to bad art design, but it's a bleed over - half the action sequences are just vague green screen flailing against the Superstasche - so, backstory time in case you didn't hear ... Henry Cavill got called in for reshoots along with everyone else - Unfortunately, he had already started filming Mission Impossible and was unable to shave his mustache due to contract - LOOK AT ITS MAJESTY cdn.flickeringmyth.com/wp-cont… - so WB had to remove it digitally - It looks bad - in theatres (again, saw it with extended fam) the film opens with a celphone recording of Supes (flashback). My mom immediately leans over "Is that the same actor? I think it's the same actor? I can't tell. He looks different. Whaaaaaaaaaaa?" - There's a solid reason: lips used by most people to lipread (even on a subconscious level). So if that's off it triggers uncanny valley. Is there a silver lining? - This is where I get into business, and this is the highly abridged version. - Recipe for good business: master your craft, treat customers fairly, do marketing right, remember the customers are paying you (free exchange of currency thanks to capitalism) - the recipe ISN'T figure out how to get more money. Do that and you'll end up like EA Games. - Disney/Marvel is clearly on this path. The evidence is in their films which are genuinely getting better over time (Ragnarok is honestly one of the best films out there). - the DCEU was born out of a need to make another superman film in order to keep the rights (ya have to do some spelunking to 2010-2013, but that's the truth), which led to the rushed Justice League film - in other words = WB was focusing on retaining and earning money. ... WHY I BRING THAT UP ... Justice League had the weakest opening weekend out of any DCEU film. And given the negative word of mouth, it's not going to pull a wonder woman and stick around (especially with Ragnarok STILL in theatres and Star Wars just around the corner). Even with extra investments and heavy changes, JL didn't match their goal of more money. ... As such, I don't know how WB will respond to this. Hopefully they'll keep on this new trajectory, 'cause it is better. But with money hungry execs you never know.

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furederiko · 7 years ago

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Time for November's 1st Random-News-Digest! And specially released on November 17th, 2017... despite being several hours late. LOL.

(Images courtesy of Nintendo, Warner Bros, 20th Century FOX, Square Enix, and The Pokemon Company/GameFreak. Taken from Official Trailers and/or Official Sites)

Super Mario Bros

Hold on to your Yoshis, because Mario Mario is coming back (yes, after that dreadful live action attempt in 1993) to Hollywood. This time, in an animated movie created by Illumination. If the report is to be believed, then Nintendo will be partnering with Universal to produce and release this movie. In case you live under a rock and doesn't know Illumination, that's the studio in charge of the "Despicable Me" and "The Secret Life of Pets" series. I know what you're thinking, I can already see the Toads being treated as the new Minions. LOL.

This project is said to be just in early stages, so it might take a few more years before it is ready for release. The average process to develop a big screen animated movie takes roughly 3 to 5 years, so if the deal moves on this month then we can expect the movie to arrive in... 2020. Which is the year of the Japan Olympics!!! Aaaaah, I see what you did there Nintendo. Honestly, I'm not expecting much of this project. As long as it's as entertaining as SONY's "The Angry Birds Movie", and unlike those numerous dull live action attempts... then I'll be okay. I'm pretty much sold by the word ANIMATED anyway, because forcing a live action adaptation to Mario and Luigi would be... a HUGE NO.

Metal Gear Solid

Now for this one, I'm... NOT so sure. Not just because I'm not big on KONAMI's "Metal Gear Solid" franchise as a game, but because it's live action. And we all know there's an eerie curse looming over live action adaptations for video games title. Look no further than "Assassin's Creed"... among many others.

The good news is, Derek Connolly is writing the script, and Jordan Vogt-Roberts is directing. The former has worked on "Jurassic World" and "Star Wars", while the latter is determined to make a watchable video game movie. LOL. Vogt-Roberts is most definitely a unique and seemingly fun guy, I'll give you that. This pair has worked together creating "Kong: Skull Island", which was an entertaining movie. Hmmm... now that I think about it, the whole espionage Special Forces theme would be somewhat similar to what Vogt-Roberts did in that King Kong movie. I genuinely think he actually CAN pull this off! Let's just hope the project moves on to higher stages, and not fizzles out like... it has always been.

Disney Animation

This was actually a news from last month. Yeah, I got pretty caught up with many personal ordeals, that I've completely missed out on mentioning this movie on my previous R-N-D. "Gigantic", Disney's version of the classic "Jack and the Beanstalk" story had been cancelled.

Said news was quite startling, considering the title was still part of their D23 Event... even if it was in a very minor way. It also has been in development by co-directors Meg LeFauve and Nathan Greno for quite some time, with a fixed 2020 release window. 'Creative process' was mentioned as reason for its cancellation, with Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studio president Ed Catmull calling the movie as 'not working'. The studio has moved on to another original project, that is expected to open in Thanksgiving 2020. Will we be getting another Disney Princess movie, following last year's "Moana"? Here's hoping. For now, the studio still has "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" set to open on November 21st, 2018, and the sequel to their hit title "Frozen" on November 27th, 2019. We can still look forward to those ones...

Disney Live Action

The live action department also hit a bump. Director Sam Mendes has departed his live action re-telling/adaptation for "Pinocchio". This is the second time he has walked out from a Disney project, with "James and the Giant Peach" being the first one. There's a rumor that Mendes might be moving to the franchise he worked on before, but that's the topic for a different category.

It's unclear if Disney will continue to work on this title by finding another director, or take a completely different approach and shelves it like what they just did to "Gigantic". Right now, two titles that are in active production is Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin", and Jon Favreau's "The Lion King" that will open on July 19th, 2019. If I'm not mistaken, Niki Caro's "Mulan" is still in pre-production, along with other titles.

We can also add a new title "Prince Charming", that is set to be written and directed by Stephen Chbosky. Chbosky is famous for his recent work "Wonder" that is set to be released this weekend, as well as the critically acclaimed "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". As the title suggests, it will focus on a young Prince and all the struggle he faces to live up to the family name. Of course, since the name Prince Charming typically refers to the one from... "Snow White" and/or "Cinderella", I can't help but wonder if this will be connected as prequel or some sort to either. It doesn't sound like it, but who knows, right? Let's just wait for more information in the near future...

Star Wars

Remember the time when many people speculated Rian Johnson would take over Collin Trevorrow's directorial seat for the tentatively titled "Star Wars - Episode IX"? Lucasfilm had expressed positive response to the director, and he himself was genuinely excited, giddy, and extremmely passionate about his love to experience in the franchise. It felt like a sure if not most plausible thing. But then we all knew that didn't happen, because it's J.J. Abrams instead who returned for the job.

But why didn't Johnson take the movie? Surprise surprise, turns out, he has other BIGGER project planned... for the franchise. Yes, he's not leaving the franchise anytime soon. Lucasfilm indeed had a great mutual time with Johnson, that they not only want him to work on another "Star Wars" movie, but to set up an entirely NEW non-Skywalker trilogy for them! The word 'bigger' would be an understatement now, right? He will be writing and directing at least the first one of this trilogy, while long time collaborator Ram Bergman is producing.

We can safely assume that this means the Skywalker-focused storyline will be wrapped up in "Episode IX", and afterwards, we'll be seeing a new route for the franchise in the foreseeable future. This new trilogy might not be episodic in nature, and will introduce entirely new characters from the universe. A "blank canvas" as Kathleen Kennedy said. Many fans have expressed both praises, and approval, as well as concerns, and disapproval for this approach, but if you ask me, I'm welcoming this with open arms. I've never been an avid fan of this space opera before, so this could be my official entry point. Without the need to explore previous movies, that is! LOL. I wonder if this new trilogy will be connected to the newly announced live action TV series?

Of course, this means that his work on "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has completely left Lucasfilm VERY satisfied. Johnson himself might be REALLY anxious about it (a humble response, by the way), but this is by all means an expression of HIGH confidence from the studio. As evidenced by the departure of Trevorrow, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, and others, they wouldn't give Johnson such massive responsibility if they are not overly pleased collaborating with him. He might be such a good polite and down to earth guy, eh? If you're curious about his work, then you only need to wait a bit longer. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" arrives in less than a month on December 15th, 2017!

James Bond

Yep, thanks to walking out of the Disney live action project, Sam Mendes has immediately been rumored to direct the untitled "Bond 25". This naturally makes sense. Mendes worked on "Skyfall" and also "Specter", and the next movie might very well be Daniel Craig's last foray. Would be nice to see Mendes returning to deliver Craig's swan song as well as to wrap it up as his final 007 trilogy. Christoph Waltz had stated that he's not coming back as Blofeld though, so I wonder if that might affect Mendes' decision. Sure, Waltz teased that the role could be re-cast, but who can really tell what the future, I mean James Bond holds. Also, MGM announced earlier this month that Annapurna will help bring the franchise to the theatre. Does this mean the studio has won the bidding war? It's unconfirmed for now, but that seems to be the case. Quite surprising too, because it felt like a lesser entity when compared to other bigger names on the mix. But I guess as long as the franchise can still hit theatres, it's a victory for Bond's devoted fans nonetheless.

Dark Universe

Sad to say, this could be the LAST time for this category to be featured in my R-N-D. According to recent report, Universal has pulled the plug on its ambitious Dark Universe. At the very least, it's in critical condition.

All signs have totally led to this. Tom Cruise's "The Mummy" was a big failure that didn't make enough good impression (could you imagine what would have happened had Tom Cruise agreed to play Tony Stark in the first "Iron Man"? Marvel Studios dodged an bullet right there). And then production for Bill Condon's "Bride of Frankenstein" was halted not long after it begun, and the movie had since been removed from the planned release date. None of the other projects like "Invisible Man", "Wolf Man", or some others showed real progress. Next thing that happened, both Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan who seem... (or to be precise USED) to be the overseer to this Monster-based universe, have each moved on to other projects. That pretty much sealed the deal, don't you think? For the record, this isn't the first time Kurtzman abandons a cinematic universe. Don't ever forget Paramount's Transformers and also SONY's Amazing Spider-Man series.

Of course, it doesn't mean that the idea is gone for good. Universal can still pull off a soft reboot or some sort, simply by planning more properly before jumping towards another dark waters. President of production Peter Cramer even stated, "We are not rushing to meet a release date and will move forward with these films when we feel they are the best versions of themselves.". This implied that at least, Condon's movie might still become a reality sometime in the future.

I'm personally feeling VERY disappointed to hear this, knowing the probability of seeing Russell Crowe reprising his Dr. Jekyll is now close to zero. I really want to see him 'Hulk Out' and becomes a massive monstrous Edward Hyde... which we didn't really fully get in "The Mummy". But who am I to say, right? All I can say is, I hope Universal will inspire other studios to think ahead and NOT just try to snobbishly copy Marvel Studios' success without analyzing what makes their universe works. Heck, they have even proved that it's never to late to course-correct things. So don't give up Universal, and just do it one step at a time, okay!

DC Films

Uhmm... so yeah, embargo for critics reviews (both social media on November 10th, and full essays on November 14th) for Warner Bros' "Justice League" has been uplifted earlier this week. And well, true to the nature of DC Films (at least its first three movies, with "Wonder Woman" being the not-that-surprising exception), the response is a mixed-bag. Immediately, it has divided critics both fans and non-fans of DC Comics alike with polarizing opinions. Some said that Joss Whedon's clear influence doesn't gel well with the 85% done by Zack Snyder, but others said it worked just fine to elevate the movie. If you visit one entertainment site, you'd likely stumble on a review that paints the movie in a moderate-to-good light by calling it 'Pretty Good', while elsewhere you'll be greeted by review that sees it as bad-to-awful by calling it 'Pretty Bad'. Suffice to say, despite leaning to positive, things do not look completely 'PRETTY' for WB and DC.

By the way, RottenTomatoes deliberately delayed their aggregated score for the movie. My initial assumption when I saw the headline? "Ain't this cheating, huh?". Those who think RT is being paid by Marvel Studios... looks like WB is the one paying them instead, am I right? After all, this studio is infamous for constantly blaming RT for their movies' own critical failures. Of course, despite the fact that WB DOES have a stake in this site (feel free to make your own conclusion with that), that is NOT the actual reason. It's more inline with the site's Facebook show, or something like that. Of course, said score have been officially (it was leaked before hand) released now, and no surprise... as of writing (October 17th, 08:50PM local time), it's currently sitting at 37%. That is already a tad lower than its initial number. YIKES!

General consensus is calling the movie as fun but flawed. A narrative mess, but at least it gets the characters correctly now. An entertaining spectacle, but visually it's ugly and tacky. So at the very least, it's not a trainwreck and is still BETTER than the dreadful "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" nor the abominable snowma-... er, "Suicide Squad".

Ironically, WB tried to be boastfully 'different' three times, and failed miserably. Eventhough, in a way they WERE mimicking or parroting Marvel Studios. Just admit it, "Batman v Superman" was consciously made to rival Captain America 3, and "Suicide Squad" was their version of Guardians of the Galaxy. This year, they blatantly and openly COPY that 'competitor' movies. "Wonder Woman" was an amalgam of the first Captain America with elements of Thor, while "Justice League" is clearly DC's version of the 2nd Avengers. And my oh my, look what they've gotten! Good to POSITIVE responses!!! The morale of the day, if you can't compete, just follow suit. Oh, and also... use talented people who have worked on the opposite side. I mean, duh... Patty Jenkins, Joss Whedon, and Brian Michael Bendis? "Justice League" opens today on November 17th, so let's hope it will perform better financially than critically.

David F. Sandberg's "Shazam!" is moving along nicely as the movie next to be seen after next year's "Aquaman" (to be released in... *drumrolls* December 2018). After casting Disney Prince Zachary Levi as the heroic version, the movie obviously needs the human version, the little kid named Billy Batson. Remember when acclaimed young actor Jacob Tremblay (who similar to his Oscar-winner BFF, deserves BETTER roles) was said to be in contention? Well, the role ended up on young Asher Angel's hand instead. Name doesn't sound familiar? Well... he is one of the leads of "Andi Mack" on... Disney Channel. See? If you can't beat them, snatch their actors too. Grace Fulton is said to be portraying the female lead, and actor Mark Strong was said to be in negotiation to play the antagonist Dr. Sivana... whoever that is. Should he decide to take the job, this would be Strong's second DC character for WB after his short turn as Sinestro.

Interestingly, WB desperately wants this franchise to be noticed. Why is that? Just think about it, the movie is set to open in Spring 2019, so it's going to be released not far behind a particular Marvel Studios movie called... "Captain Marvel". I'm sure you know where I'm leading to with this, right? Yes... because Shazam used to be called by the same name. Coincidence? Highly UNLIKELY. It's another game of chicken by good'ol always-competitive WB (no matter how many try to scoff it off, their rivalry to Marvel is apparently REAL), folks! And a rather ballsy albeit rude one too. I mean for crying out loud, in this kind of political situation that sees a president continuously provoking people to hate a previous female opponent like a sore loser, and numerous reports of mistreatments of women by Hollywood top names... WB wants to use a testosterone-manchild-themed movie to directly challenge a FEMALE-led movie just because the two shared the same name? I call that suicide.

How about Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam then? That character is the nemesis of Shazam, so it's natural if we get to see him too in the movie. But noooope, apparently WB is planning to put him in another movie instead. And surprise surprise, it's not his own solo movie as the studio repeatedly promised, but Gavin O'Connor's "Suicide Squad 2". I literally slapped myself in the face when I read this, because dang it... wasn't it enough to throw a sexist Enchantress, that they just HAD to pit the broken Squad against another supernatural character? This is not confirmed for now, but since the movie still has a long way before starting production in October 2018... let's just hope WB has a more sane way for combining the "Suicide Squad" and "Shazam!" franchise. Hold on... did they just confirm that "Shazam!" is part of the current continuity then? Then I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that... (read: there goes half of my interest in seeing the movie.). I really want this to be its own separate thing, and not boggled in the failed universe. I guess I expected too much too soon, huh?

About "The Batman", there's a hint that Ben Affleck might be stepping out the Matt Reeves movie after all. Though he was singing a different tune during this year's San Diego Comic-Con International, the actor has since been saying a complete opposite. In a press junket for "Justice League" in London, he even openly said that he does NOT know what the future holds. That sounds like a guy who's thinking of gracefully bowing out from the DC Films... as soon as possible. He even mentioned the exact same thing to USA Today not long after. Quite surprisingly, the internet also expressed their agreement to see him leave. Some already even fancasting and speculating a replacement (that one actor, I hope its NOT true). OUUCH! Looks like what once a bright star, is slowly fading away like a comet that visits a solar system every hundred of years. Hmmm... I wonder if Henry Cavill will follow suit after this...

Last but not least, Patty Jenkins' much anticipated "Wonder Woman 2" has vacated its December 13th release date to arrive 6 weeks earlier. CALLED IT! Yep, I knew WB would end up doing this because competing directly with "Star Wars" would be waaaay too risky. I'm just surprised that it took this long for the studio to announce the shift. I guess they were waiting for Marvel Studios to prove that early November is a good spot for comic book adaptation, huh? Don't worry, Gal Gadot is expected to reprise her role, because WB had said that the report of her 'refusal' (originated at PageSix) is NOT true. "Wonder Woman 2" will now open in November 1st, 2019.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Would you look at that?! I can't believe this, but WB has mischievously prepared a contingency plan for the negative response to "Justice League". I assume based on past experiences, WB is aware that critics would still be divisive (no different situation, a bit worse than "Man of Steel" even) about their DC movies, so they immediately releases official synopsis and cast photo for the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" sequel. Come on, releasing this on the same day the DC ensemble movie is released? Can't be a coincidence. A pretty darn good distraction, if I should add! Not to mention, this comes on the heels of that recently announced Niantic AR game.

The new official title has immediately generated mixed response. After all, "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" OBVIOUSLY put the focus on Johnny Depp's villainous character Gellert Grindelwald. It could be a good thing, if his name was still as big as it used to be in the past, but we all know that the world has changed. Thankfully, one character stood out the most among the confirmed cast members. It's none other than Jude Law's young Albus Dumbledore. I must say, he doesn't look the way I expected to be, but I'm definitely not complaining. Hey, a charming dashing Dumbledore would be a great selling point for the new franchise that hasn't been able to be on par with its "Harry Potter"... sequel.

We got FIVE couples now. The four core characters from the first movie are here, hopefully in a bigger and more memorable inclusion. We have Claudia Kim's cursed 'Maledictus' character, who seems to be pairing up with Ezra Miller's Credence and could very well be serving as an antagonist. And then there's Zoe Kravitz's Leta Estrange who is engaged with Callum Turner's Theseus Scamander. Indeed, Theseus is Newt's big brother, so here's hoping Eddie Redmayne isn't sidelined completely and get to showcase actual dramatic involvement in this sequel.

Say what you will about the first movie, but it was surprisingly entertaining enough to make me see more. It might be not at the heights of the "Harry Potter" series, but I'd gladly take this over the DC Films anytime. Directed by David Yates based on a screenplay from J.K. Rowling, this movie is set to arrive precisely one year from now on November 16th, 2018. Aaaah, I get it now.

X-Men Universe

Let's address the elephant in the room first. When we talk about Marvel character owned by 20th Century FOX nowadays, then you should be aware of a recent report that has taken the world by storm. That's right, the House of Mouse Disney is in negotiation to purchase FOX's film and TV division, because the other company wants to focus on news and sport. That literally means, all the movie rights for X-Men and Fantastic Four will be reverted back to Marvel! Yes, every characters from those faction might be returning home in the foreseeable future, because despite the report that talk has ended, the possibility is still very much high. Assuming Comcast or Verizon doesn't suddenly come out of left field and snatches this opportunity instead, of course.

If you ask me how I feel if FOX and Marvel Studios arrange an agreement similar to what the latter did with SONY and Spider-Man? Then I would not hesitate to say "No Thanks". Combining Marvel Studios' movie universe with FOX's sloppy, botched, and well... generally uninspiring one would be a disaster. FOX tend to disregard good characters, and treat them badly more often than not. But if this deal DOES become a reality, then I'd be REALLY happy. That means we WILL be getting the much-needed reboot that the X-Men and Fantastic Four are desperate for, and not just a soft-reboot that producer Simon Kinberg had been boasting out and about... that ended up with his "X-Men: Dark Phoenix". I don't know about you, but Kinberg clearly doesn't know what he is doing, so I want to see him OUT of and AWAY from any Marvel stories for good. Of course, there's a downside to all things. Through FOX movie division, we were able to get more comic adaptations in a yearly basis. Not just that, we also got titles like "Logan" or the upcoming "The New Mutants" that run in R-rated route, one that Marvel Studios or Disney in general would be highly unlikely to explore. That might be an outcome that many fans might be hard to swallow...

Anyways, amidst that rumbling news, Deadpool kept on walking proudly, as if it doesn't care about what would happen to its own crumbling universe. After all, one comment on social media said that Wade Wilson is the only Marvel character who could easily address the change casually without the need to mind its own continuity. Don't forget, this is the guy who is consciously confused which Professor X he should report to. LOL. "The Untitled Deadpool Sequel" (that's the placeholder title, which I hope would be the official title because it just fits the character so much) movie released a holiday-themed first official poster, as well as a Bob Ross inspired second teaser that well... if you ask me, pretty much stole a bit of buzz from WB's movie premiere. LOL.

This teaser suggests that despite the change in director, the movie still retains the same idiosyncratic atmosphere. I'm glad that the returning characters aren't forgotten in this one, and if some people catch this one theory right, we might be getting a rather 'sinister' antagonist as the super villain. WOW. "The Untitled Deadpool Sequel" (I'm still laughing here!) arrives on June 1st, 2018, so if you're a fan of the first movie, make sure you mark your date.

One more thing, would you like to see a movie featuring... a mutant character called "Multiple Man"? Well, James Franco might be starring in one. So whether you want it or not, it's still probably coming in the future. Who's behind this bizarre and preposterous idea? Duuuh... Kinberg of course. Who else? LOL.

SONY Marvel Universe

Situation in the SONY side, is a 'little' different. Not content with "Venom" (showing us a first look of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock after just 2 weeks of production) and "Silver & Black", the studio is already moving forward with another title. This time, "Morbius the Living Vampire". Earlier this week, it was revealed that the writers of this year's "Power Rangers" Burk Sharpless and Matt Sazama had submitted their script to the studio. The two previously worked on several underwhelming movies like "Dracula Untold" and "Gods of Egypt".

To be honest, I'm actually surprised when I found out that Dr. Michael Morbius belongs to SONY. He's a long time antagonist of Blade, and as far as I know, that character has reverted back to Marvel. Of course, I just discovered that the Roy Thomas and Gil Kane's creation debuted in "Amazing Spider-Man" #101. It makes sense now, because it's almost the same situation to the character Kingpin. Problem is, similar to Venom and other Spider-Man related characters, the BIG question is will these character work without Spidey himself... Or in Morbius case, without Blade? I seriously doubt it. I believe just the fact that these characters will not interact with the ones from Marvel Studios, is already strongly pessimistic. Let's just wait and see if SONY can prove that it DOES have what it takes to jumpstart their own Spidey-less Marvel Universe.

Marvel Studios

Let's talk about "Thor: Ragnarok" first! Eventhough this weekend the movie's might would likely be overthrown by DC's first ensemble movie, Taika Waititi's comedy has managed to at least stay on number 1 for two consecutive weeks. It's making huge money, even more than Chris Hemsworth's first two solo movies. Seriously though, should we even be surprised? This buddy comedy is genuinely FUN and hilarious, and plenty of its memorable scenes will be etched into your brain... forcing you to laugh or giggle whenever the memory strikes. Like a lunatic? Well, if you say so. LOL. Really though, you couldn't see me now but I'm currently cackling upon remembering that... uhm, naked scene. LOL.

By the way, Waititi has openly expressed his desire to make another Thor movie with Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo. What do you think? Should he get his second Ragnarok movie? If it means we'll get another 'Get Help' moment, or more of Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster? Waititi might not have a vast or deep knowledge of comic book, but since "Ragnarok" pretty much creates a clean slate for Thor Odinson and the Asgardians... he can pretty much do anything. And I honestly look forward to see that.

Disney has begun campaigning the movie and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" for Oscar race too. Since many of the Award's regular players have been lambasted with various kinds of sexual misconduct allegations, can we expect members of the Academy to turn towards comic book adaptations now? I certainly hope so. We know that 'Best Visual Effects' and in some cases 'Best Make Up' will be the usual entry, but I sure hope these movies get a chance in other categories too. 'Best Score' or 'Sound Editing' perhaps? I do think Mark Mothersbaugh deserves an appreciation for his work in "Ragnarok".

"Black Panther" is now officially three months away from release! Well, for the US region at least... because several other countries (like yours truly) usually get it earlier. To celebrate this, Marvel Studios have released a batch of single character posters that includes Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa, his royal family members, up to Andy Serkis' Ulysees Klaue. As far as I recall, we haven't had one for Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger... or did I miss anything? The movie also have tested positively in early screenings according to report, so we're in for another Marvelous time. "Black Panther" arrives on February 16th, 2018.

Fans have been actively demanding the D23/SDCC trailer for "Avengers: Infinity War", to the point that people started doing illegal stuff like posting leaked images and all. We got the first look for Proxima Midnight, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow's new hairdo and costume that resembled another Marvel character, as well as Paul Bettany's Vision and Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch looking in despair. These pictures are great, but HOW we get them is the morale question here. I'm not particularly fond of this attitude, because it only shows the dark and negative side of fandom.

Obviously there are VALID reasons why Marvel Studios is withholding that trailer, thus is it so hard to just WAIT until it is released officially? The reason can be a simple one, like the need to add quality Visual Effects to it, or a bigger one like... the potential of spoilering other movies. In particular, "Ragnarok" and "Black Panther". I'll use "Ragnarok" for example. Thor's appearance in the trailer shown exclusively last Summer was INCONSISTENT compared to how he ended up in "Ragnarok". In the end of "Ragnarok", we know that he got a 'permanent scar', and he didn't look like that at all in the "Infinity War" trailer. And then there's that scene with Loki holding the Tesseract. Also, Thor ran into a gigantic vessel, that Marvel Studios President has confirmed to be the Sanctuary II. The owner? Josh Brolin's Thanos. See? It's a massive spoiler already. Who knows what kind of secret from "Black Panther" it would spoil in advance!

I personally feel what we all need to know, is that the movie will undoubtedly be HUGE. Like Ruffalo himself hyped stated, it has "all of the Marvel characters in it. All nine franchises. I mean, it’s mind-boggling. Everyone has their moment to shine. Everyone is still their characters.". Feige admitted that even the filming felt overwhelming and surprisingly emotional everyday. And also, that the movie is some kind of a... heist movie? HUH? Yeah, co-directors Joe and Anthony Russo specifically said so to CNET, which honestly made me wonder. They were pretty specific that the heist would be Thanos' play, as he collects all 6 Infinity Stones. Hmmm... let's just stop right here, because now I've become curious to see the trailer. LOL. But nope, I know for sure that I'm going to be watching this movie. At least, ONCE. That's why Marvel Studios can even delay the trailer forever or not release it at all, and I won't mind. Because I don't really need any more convincing to see it.

As far as I know, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" has completed production. I'm not really sure about this though, but I think I did see like some kind of celebration for it on Twitter. Regardless, both Walton Goggins and David Dastmalchian have completed their parts earlier this week. Dastmalchian even gave us a look for Randall Park's Agent Jimmy Woo. Here's hoping we'll be getting a teaser trailer soon.

Laurence Fishburne who would soon be seen as Bill 'Goliath' Foster in the movie, opened up to Collider that because he grew up with Marvel, he actually pitched himself to Marvel Studios! Intriguingly, he also came with several ideas, and has been developing one secretly with Marvel. He hoped that "It’s gonna change the world". Hmmm.... this is intriguing. Fishburne didn't specifically say movie, so it could very well be a comic series, or even a TV one. Something related to Blade perhaps? or some others? Hmmmm...

Recent report by Variety claimed that Ben Mendelsohn has been approached to play the antagonist in "Captain Marvel". If his interview with Collider was any indication, it seems he might have officially come onboard the movie... or at least in final talks. His response reminded me greatly to when Paul Rudd, Benedict Cumberbatch, and also Carol Danvers herself Brie Larson tried to play coy about their roles. These are obviously polite and sincere actors, so they couldn't really hide that big of a secret. Since this is feeling like a dejavu, let's just say we shouldn't be surprised if Mendelsohn ends up antagonist-ing Larson in the movie when it arrives on March 8th, 2019.

This is the last one for the category folks! More SPOILER-ish (as usual, you might want to skip to the next category if you avoid one) information surrounding "Avengers 4" has been flying over the internet. One particular bit teased the reenactment, a flashback, or perhaps a time travel twist involving "The Avengers". Not only because Robert Downey Jr. was spotted wearing the exact same shirt from the 2012 movie, Hemsworth himself posted a photo (with his daughter) wearing a costume precisely from the same movie. Actor Frank Grillo and Maximiliano Hernández were also suspiciously present in Atlanta. Does this mean Crossbones and Agent Jasper Sitwell are alive in the movie? Hmmm. Could we be seeing a reality alteration here? Especially if we consider the ability of the Reality Stone. According to report that can't really be considered credible, these will all be scenes generated by Tony Stark using his B.A.R.F. simulation that we saw in "Captain America: Civil War". To who? Ty Simpkins' Harley Keener, who has been confirmed to appear in the movie. Hmmmm... now I'm really curious about this movie too. But let's just focus on "Infinity War" first, shall we?! One day... I mean one movie at a time.

Marvel TV

Oh hey, Marvel's "Inhumans" has officially ended with its eight episode. I think it was last Friday, if I'm not mistaken. How would I know, if I couldn't even care less about it. Personal preference aside, that means the 5th season of Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." is about to air very soon. And if you're among devoted Marvel fans who are already counting days, then the show has released an official trailer to wet your appetite for this new season.

The trailer was... uhmm, okay I guess? I'm still on the fence to follow this season, so I can't really tell if this manages to persuade me or not. One thing for sure, it's action packed and filled with creepy aliens. It's really nice to see Henry Simmons' Mack and Natalia Cordova-Buckley's Yo-Yo get more presence and involved in more action. We also see bits of the new characters: Jeff Ward's ambiguous Deke, Eve Harlow's Tess, Pruitt Taylor Vince's commander Grill, and Coy Stewart's possible-Nuhuman Flint.

And then there's that confirmed report of Nick Blood returning in some capacity as Lance Hunter. What about Adrienne Palicki's Bobby Morse? Last we heard, she won't be making an appearance due to her tight schedule in the equally space-themed alien-filled "The Orville". That doesn't mean she's not open to reprise her role though, because she has had a great time and is still in touch with the cast. Here's hoping the stars will align somehow, and we get to see her official return in the series. "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." will begin the new season on Friday, December 1st, 2017, with a two-episode premiere entitled "Orientation Part 1 & 2".

Marvel's "Runaways" is set to premiere next week, on November 21st. Its first three episode will hit the streaming platform Hulu on the same day. To prepare for this, Entertainment Weekly has released official posters and banners for each of the six lead characters, while IGN dropped additional ones showcasing their super-powered abilities. They looked neat, and teased the teenager's signature skillset. Currently being praised as the teenage soap-opera side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, let's just hope that this series attracts enough viewers and good rating to warrant another season.

Meanwhile, Marvel's "New Warriors" has departed Freeform... even before it is even aired. Although Kevin Biegel's 10-episodes first season was initially meant to debut in the network, the pilot was so well-received to the point it attracted several high-level Disney execs. Freeform was unable to set a time slot for this show (I guess they prefer Marvel's "Cloak and Dagger" more?). Thus Marvel Entertainment pulled it out, and has been actively searching for a partner that can launch it next year as planned... as a direct two-seasons package! Surely it won't land on Netflix, given Disney's plan to launch their very own streaming service in 2019. This is just a wild guess, but I think Hulu would end up becoming its new home.

Speaking of Disney's upcoming new service, CEO Bob Iger confirmed that it will feature at least one new Marvel series among others. I wonder what that is? I just hope, and sincerely hope that it is not concerning Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel. It would be such a waste to utilize that massively popular character in a TV setting, when it would make the most in movie format. She's an Avenger, so she's better of to be with the other members, right? Not to mention, Marvel TV doesn't exactly have a good track record to pull their projects off properly (Inhumans, anyone?). I prefer that rumored "Power Pack" movie to switch places if that's indeed the case. Crossing my fingers!

Netflix

Eventhough Marvel's "The Punisher" is catching everyone's attention, and receiving mostly positive response from entertainment critics (general drawbacks are inevitably concerning the gun violence), Marvel fans need to be prepared with the possibility of it being the final Marvel title on Netflix. As has been widely reported, Disney is intent on creating their own streaming service. One that will include new live action show for "Star Wars", animated series based on "Monsters Inc.", and also Marvel series.

It's unlikely if the service will ONLY have one series. So it makes perfect sense for Disney to end their contract with Netflix, and pull out movies and shows like Marvel's "Daredevil", Marvel's "Jessica Jones", Marvel's "Luke Cage", Marvel's "Iron Fist", and Marvel's "The Defenders" from the platform to be exclusives alongside their 'future family'. After all, Disney had openly stated that Netflix would end up becoming their competitor when the time come. I doubt Netflix would be threatened, with a vast library of original series and movies in their pockets. But this might have a bitter result to fans of the series. Sure, this might not be as bad as many fans are worrying about, because these shows might simply move to a different place. Then again, we also need to remember that Netlfix co-financed these series, so the most likelihood is that these series will be put to a close. Can fans handle that? I don't think so.

For now, "Daredevil" begins filming Season 3 this week. I think the 2nd seasons of "Jessica Jones" and "Luke Cage" had wrapped, while the one for "Iron Fist" will start next month. At the very least, these shows are still set to air in 2018 since Disney won't be launching their service until the following year. Come 2019? Come what may. All episodes of "The Punisher" should already be available today, so you might want to enjoy it as much as possible... while you still can.

Final Fantasy

"Episode of Ignis", the third character DLC for "Final Fantasy XV" has received an official release date. Square Enix announced at the Paris Games Week 2017, that it will be available on December 13th, 2017. The storyline will take place after the "Trial of Leviathan", where Ignis is tasked to protect the unconscious Noctis as they make their way to safety. Ravus will also join forces with Ignis, likely to protect his sister Lunafreya. The story will have multiple endings, and feature new music from "Chrono Trigger" composer Yasunori Mitsuda. You can check out the official trailer for this DLC on Youtube.

Noctis himself, is set to have his own... uhmmm, 'adventure'. As in, he will be guest starring as a playable DLC character in... "Tekken 7". Yes, I know I should've put this in a separate "Tekken" category, but moreso than Geese Howard who came from "The King of Fighters" series, Noctis IS the LEAD of "Final Fantasy XV". It would be more appropriate to feature him here in his own turf, right? Ahahaha... good excuse, eh. Noctis will be available in Spring 2018. The announcement trailer sees him receiving an in-game invitation/request from Lars Alexandersson, and features his three travelling companions too (who unfortunately are only present as cameo). Go check it out, it's a fun video...

Dynasty Warriors

KOEI Tecmo has announced the release date of the English version of "Dynasty Warriors 9". While the original Japanese version will arrive for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on February 8th, 2018, countries in North America and Europe will have to wait a few days later for a release on February 13th, 2018. I doubt this will spark complaints though, because unlike previous titles, this one only sees a delay that is only less than a week away.

Pre-ordering the game will reward players with a set of extra costumes for the character Zhao Yun, Guan Yinping, Diaochan, Sun Shangxiang, Lu Lingqi, Wang Yi, and Wang Yuanji. I know what you're thinking, Zhao Yun's the only male on the list! I guess that's because he's the unofficial poster boy for the franchise, so he gets the privilege to be surrounded by the ladies. Fans of the series can already book their copy of the game right away, whether in physical or digital version.

Ace Attorney

Nintendo Switch has taken the world by storm, and rightfully so. While its launch lineup was pretty scarce, third party developers have begun noticing the potential and strong selling point of the hybrid console. One of them, is of course CAPCOM.

According to recent report, they are preparing THREE... yes, not one or two, but three titles from the "Ace Attorney" franchise to be released in 2018. The first two, are compilation titles set to be released between April and October 2018. The first one compiles the first three games (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations), and the second compiles the next three (Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice). All those titles have been exclusively available or re-released for Nintendo 3DS, so I doubt it will take long for them to be transferred into a Switch version.

The third title, is going to be an entirely new title that features Phoenix Wright as the lead protagonist once again. This is good because the latest title released was the 19th century setting "The Great Ace Attorney 2: Ryunosuke Naruhodo’s Resolution", and just like its prequel, it didn't get an English-language version. Having Phoenix at the spotlight means fans might get an international version, albeit via digital services. This news is still regarded 'rumor' for now, but as I said, Switch is getting all the buzz, so I won't be surprised if it ends up becoming actual fact and not just fan fiction.

ARIKA

The company's so-called 'Mysterious Fighting Game' has been given an official title. It's "Fighter EX Layer".... Whooaa--HUH? Hold on, Layer? Why Layer, what's the point? I wonder why they don't just call it "Fighter EX Arena" or something. Japan and their Engrish sometimes throws you for a loop, huh? LOL.

ARIKA will start beta testing on December 11th, with six playable characters: Kairi, Garuda, Skullomania, Darun Mister, Allen Snider, and Shirase. Those who attend PlayStation Experience 2017 on December 9th and 10th, will also be able to play a demo version. The game will utilize a system called 'Gougi', which sounds a little hard to describe or comprehend. Apparently, this will allow players to have different ways to play, so the flow of matches will be changed. To put it simple... it's difficult to make sense of until I can get my hands on it. LOL. "Fighting EX Layer" will arrive next year, so for the time being, check out the new trailer to get more... uhm, understanding about it.

Pocket Monsters

DC fans have gotten a "Justice League" movie, while Marvel fans received "The Punisher" series this very day. There's still one more, and this one is dedicated for Pokemon fans worldwide. Yes, the high-scored "Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon" is now officially available in market! Yaaaay...

Since the start of the month, The Pokemon Company has been releasing new promotional materials to convince gamers to grab the new and final adventure on Alola Region. Did you know that every Legendary Pokemon and their alternate forms are set to appear via Ultra Wormhole? Make sense, because this would be the last title for Nintendo 3DS. Some of them are version exclusives (like Ho-Oh is Ultra Sun while Lugia is in Ultra Moon), and some even requires special conditions (Giratina can only appear if version exclusives Dialga and Palkia are present), but all the Legendaries from Generation I to VII is here.

What about Team Rainbow Rocket? It's a villainous organization created by... previous bosses from past games. Yes, Team Rocket's Giovanni is bringing Team Magma's Maxie, Team Aqua's Archie, Team Galactic's Cyrus, Team Plasma's Ghetsis, and Team Flare's Lysandre to challenge the protagonist. There's also The Battle Agency that allows players to use Rental Pokemon, and also Totem Stickers that enable them to obtain totem-sized Pokemon. You can check out the details on these features on Gematsu, or check out the official trailer.

The latest one focuses on Necrozma, because the so-called 'Strange Evil' contains another enlightening "Secret". This refers to a report that the poster Pokemon/Ultra Beast will have a new form in these games, and not just the Dusk Mane or Dawn Wings. Read the details of this news on Gematsu.

Those who don't have a 3DS, has no other choice but to rely on "Pokemon GO" your Smartphone. Hey, there's a free Alolan costume now... to make it seem like we're also playing "Ultra Sun & Moon". LOL. Problem is, what would happen now that Niantic is actively developing a new title? Should casual and devoted players alike be nervous? Well... if Niantic's statement could be hold accountable (they... generally do, by the way), then players should NOT be worried. The company openly promised that inspite of "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite", "Pokemon GO" will still be continuously improved and updated. They even say that the team is 'doubling down' on new improvements, particularly in the year 2018. Hmmm... that means we won't be getting the rest of Generation III until at least January, huh? Bummer.

With a new 'copycat' app already 'stealing' the buzz by implementing most-requested features that "Pokemon GO" has been sorely lacking, it looks like Niantic will be pushed to step up their game much faster. Producing updates in a slow pace simply won't cut it anymore, unless they are planning on losing more and more players by relying on the same gameplay that... well, ends up becoming tedious and boring after a while. So yeah, let's just keep a close tab on this 'promise' and whether the company will be able to be true to their words or the opposite. That's when the judgement will be strike down. Am I right? *wink*

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