#also is it just me or does that tiara have a web theme....it really would be perfect for jam

[thedeafprophet]

🌹for jamie and the princess, and 💜 for maymie?

🌹- An in-game item that you imagine as a gift from the canon character(s) to the oc.

okay I usuallly struggle to answer this question because I can never think of an item.... but I have an easy out with this one:

The Captivating Princess' Third-Best Tiara

A mark of favour? A paltry cast-off? Perhaps both, depending on the Princess' whims. Whatever her reason, it is yours and no one can say that it doesn't sparkle prettily upon your head nor that it doesn't set off the hue of your eye.

Imagine with me, if you will, The Princess behind Jamie in front of a vanity.... where? Perhaps in a changing room, perhaps in their own home... perhaps in The Princess' own bedroom... her hand stroking through their hair before placing the one hand on their shoulder. Leaning close and whispering in their ear that she has a gift for them~

Isn't it so nice of her? So kind and generous, so lovely of her to share with such a favoured individual. Leaning back to grab a box, pulling the tiara from a glass box and placing is delicately upon their head, before placing both hands on their shoulders. My, now doesnt that just look lovely on them.

Like its meant to be.

💜- What’s their favorite memory of the other?

For Jamie, i think the memory is two fold when it comes to the Manager. On one hand, I think when they defeated him at the marvellous is a pretty fond memory despite the otherwise angsty aspects to the situation. I mean, after everything thats gone down prior (see: the bloody wallpaper), having that moment of proving their own capability, of standing up against him, and beating him still holds strongly in their mind. He's so much older, so much stronger, so much more powerful then they are - and still, they won. Is that not enough, to prove themself as worthy? Not equal, theyre not foolish enough to think that, but as an adversary? As a person? They like to think so.

On the other... I think, on a fonder level, its much more quieter memory. Perhaps, the first time he ever sleeps in their prescence. A much rarer thing. Seeing him vulnerable, as human, and the fact the he is so when in a place where they are around.... well, its only fair that they stood and watched for awhile, right?

For May.... i don't think theres any one specific memory. Rather, I think if he ever stopped and thought about it, it would be a collection of little moments. The moments where they've both ended up laughing at one of Jamie's jokes, the times he's carried them to bed after one too many late nights, how infuriantingly and endearingly disobedient they can be.... in all swirls together, into an overall collage of memory. (I do have to wonder how memory goes, for one so old. How easy is it to even pintpoint specific moments?)

Ask Game From Here

[zoe-oneesama]

Okay, semi-serious question! What would each member of Miss Bustier's class in the Scarlet!AU, including Lila, dress up as for Halloween?

Well I think my ideas would probably apply to canon. And obviously I know France doesn’t really do Halloween (at least not how America does), so we’re gonna just retcon reality and pretend Halloween is a common thing to these kids, so basically:

Marinette: A character costume. From a cartoon or movie or game, whatever it is she’s handmaking and handstyling all of it and is scouring the internet to make sure every detail is 100% canon accurate. Every year she tries to outdo herself by getting more and more intricate characters. Year 1 - Princess Peach Paper Mario version. Year 5 - Princess Peach Smash Bros verison.

Adrien: It’s the first year he gets to participate and it’s not some bougie adult wine drinking party, so he either goes for a visual pun (sticking a bunch of beige paint swatches to himself to be 50 Shades of Grey) or goes super basic royalty free costume, like A Vampire or A Devil. If he has a partner he’d totally go couples costumes, but who decides the costumes depends on the partner. (Marinette would totally bow to his whims but Kagami would reel him in)

Alya: She’s been in different store bought Majestia costumes since she was old enough to call the shots. Only this year is she going for Hometown Heroes, but she’s completely caught between who to choose - Ladybug because obviously, or Carapace because her boyfriend, or Rena Rouge because it’s hilarious?! So many options!!!

Nino: He’s never gotten super into it but keeps it alive for Chris. Typically he’ll pull together a “closet costume”, like pulling out the plaid button up and sticking some straw out of the pockets to be a scarecrow. Going to parties with Alya makes him want to try a little harder this year so he’ll probably actually buy a full costume this year to go with whatever she decides to be (”Wait, you’re gonna dress as me this year?!”)

Canon Chloe: She’s worn her Ladybug costume a few too many times in public, so she’ll probably go for Queen Bee but with a twist - like a full ballgown princess but Queen Bee themed. It’s super expensive decorated with real rhinestones, as are all the costumes she’s had in the past because she’s in a personal competition with Marinette. It kills her that Marinette always gets way more compliments on her costumes. 

SL Chloe: Same as above but Scarlet Lady themed. She’s at least smart enough to forgo the mask and demands pockets to shove Tikki into.

Canon Sabrina: In order to match Chloe but not outshine her, Sabrina is ordered to be a bee (to be Queen Bee’s “Pollen”, though Sabrina doesn’t know what that means). She’s an adorabee and her outfit is also pretty expensive because it was commissioned by Chloe, but that also means Sabrina got zero input on it. 

SL Sabrina: It’s the first time Sabrina hasn’t relied on Chloe to “make” her costume (or rather DECIDE her costume) and all the independence has Sabrina scrambling a bit. In the end, by borrowing some of her dad’s old things, she dresses as a Cutie Cop complete with a too big hat and handcuffs she has to SWEAR not to use.

Max: With some carefully painted cardboard and foam, he’s one of the bots from UMS III. Despite the crudeness of the costume, it is also meticulously model accurate, and also very difficult to move in.

Kim: 100% one of those inflatable T Rex costumes.

Alix: She’d probably wear her regular clothes but invest in a high quality wolf mask and hands and sneak up on people all night.

Nathaniel: He’d have to prepare months in advance but he’d show up as Super Nathan. He skips on the face paint but considering it’s his OC and he still draws it in his comic, I think he’s not emotionally tainted by being an akuma and it’s own little “Fuck You” to Hawkmoth. Plus it makes Chloe stay 10000 miles away from him. 

Mylene: Mylene walks into a costume shop with no plan, wanting to be taken in by how a costume looks and feels on her. Because of that she has an eclectic background and no one ever knows what she’s going to come as. Last year she was a racoon because the costume dress had ears on the hoodie, but maybe this year she comes as a Mad Hatter because the costume came with a lot of pieces. Who knows?!

Ivan: He knows he’s going to avoid anything with a mask if he wants his girlfriend to come near him. That does knock off a lot of his favorite horror characters, so he goes an Adrien route and shows up as A Ninja. Yep. Definitely not a video game character, noooo, this is TOTALLY just A Ninja. Uhuh.

Rose: Unicorn Princess. With wings. And a tiara. And A wand. And a tail. And rainbow chalk in her hair. And stickers. 

Juleka: She’s a witch, but not a store bought cute short skirt one. Like a voodoo hag that dragged herself out of the swamp to curse mankind. She’s basically one every year so she just adds onto her costume and every year her witch costume just increases in collectables. Vials around her waist and a fake crow on her hat, a spell book appeared one year, and spider webs draped over her shoulders. Uh, are you sure that’s just a costume Juleka?

Canon Lila: She doesn’t care much about the actual costume but takes a lot of care making sure it’s juuuuuust towing the line between cute and sexy. It needs to be attention getting but not bad attention. She goes for slightly childish characters, like Little Red Riding Hood, so she can get away with saying she thought it was “just adorable!” when she knows it’s showing her off. If I wanted her to be even cheekier, I’d have her find a “Sexy” Rena Rouge costume that’s pretty much Rena Rouge but in a skirt, and watch Alya convulse.

SL Lila: Drop the act and just admit she likes feeling sexy. Her friends help her find costumes that are age appropriate but scratch that itch and Lila puts more thought into the actual character. She gets a new appreciation for merging horror with pretty stuff - like a Zombie Cheerleader or Elsa but with ice coming out of her skin. It also lets her stretch her makeup skills. 

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Movie Review: Wonder Woman 1984 (Spoilers)

Spoiler Warning: I haven’t been able to see this movie when it came out here in the U.K, so had to wait until a couple of days after Christmas to both watch and review it. If you haven’t seen this movie by the last week of the year and want to avoid spoilers go and watch it before reading on.

General Reaction:

I have finally seen Wonder Woman 1984, the first new superhero movie I have seen in 2020 outside of The New Mutants and my god it has been a trial to be able to watch this.

Being from the U.K, which was surprisingly a factor with one minor part of this movie, we over here usually get the big blockbusters particularly of the comic-book variety before or on the same day as the U.S. However, thanks to this fakakta pandemic and the new world order that movie studios and theatres find themselves in during 2020, I have been reduced to watching a blockbuster movie for the first time initially on my laptop rather than on the big screen as movies like this should be brought out first as.

I am fully aware that this is a global pandemic and that watching movies in the cinema pales in significance to what needs to be done to combat and eventually defeat this crisis, but being from an area where all cinemas are closed I’m out on a limb basically.

I won’t turn this part of the review into a COVID rant because frankly I am sick of talking about it but I do feel COVID will be a factor with the performance of these upcoming movies.

That being said, the second real world rant factor I have for this is WW1984 I feel has suffered due to constant schedule shifting and I feel a fairly uneven advertising campaign.

I went into this movie not thinking I was going to see the villains the way they are in the trailers or the comics and honestly it does seem that Cheetah and Max Lord, who are both credited Wonder Woman villains, have their roles reversed and the one who you think is going to be the biggest threat pretty much becomes a henchman and the one mainstream fans may not know a lot about is surprisingly the big threat but you’re also meant to feel sympathetic for both of them to a degree.

It seems a complete 180 spin from the first Wonder Woman movie which was a very grounded and gritty WW1 story to now be in the zany 80s...which as a decade has aspects of being zany yes but the way in which this movie plays out genuinely made me think of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies...but the best of them rather than Emo Peter.

There are so many plot points in this movie that more or less spawn from the main McGuffin of the movie which is the Dream Stone allowing people to make wishes but grants them with a sacrifice. The movie has several sub-plots that are the repercussions of the wishes that everyone makes and individually all of these sub-plots are very interesting...it’s when you then try to tie them all together for the big climactic battle that is when you get a bit of a mess,

Also, there is hardly any action in this movie and as both a Wonder Woman movie and a superhero movie in general, I am longing for some action sequences this year and the fact there are almost no good v evil fights would be disappointing, if not for the fact I understand where Patty Jenkins and the writers are trying to accomplish with this movie in comparison to the first movie.

I am not a massive Wonder Woman fan, I know the basics of Diana, the two Wonder Girls, Cheetah and Max Lord enough to understand what is going on. But the one thing that has always drawn me to her is that she is a hero with two distinct sides.

Firstly there’s the warrior that most mainstream fans would be aware of which is more played up in the first movie, but then there’s also the diplomat and the ambassador who attempts to always get across her message of peace which is more played up here.

If I think about it from that perspective, I can forgive the lack of action.

That being said, there is still a jumble of plot points that once you do untangle them all lead to the same conclusion, but there are too many ideas in 2h30 to make the movie coherent.

That’s the main negatives out of the way, the positives somewhat outweigh the negatives, let it be known I did enjoy this movie and there are some brilliant moments and sequences, but a lot of scenes aren’t developed enough or some aspects seem to be kept on the backburner maybe for a sequel.

Characters:

Diana:

We have to start with Wonder Woman herself, but as I mentioned before I am calling her Diana rather than Wonder Woman in my subheading because there wasn’t a lot of Wonder Woman action in this movie. If you’ve seen the trailers you’ve seen pretty much everything.

Going back to that first action piece when we are reintroduced to Wonder Woman at the shopping mall, I do understand why she’s doing what she’s doing by acting as a vigilante rather than a public superhero and not using violence does keep in step with where we first met her in Batman v. Superman during present day where she claims not to be about fighting or saving mankind anymore and to be honest here she does keep with that. She’s given up her Godkiller sword and shield but still makes full use of her lasso of truth along with her bracelets of submission and Aunt Antiope’s Tiara in a defensive manner but never to outwardly cause harm.

But yes, this entire sequence could easily substitute Wonder Woman with Spider-Man and her lasso and tiara with his web-shooters and feel like the good parts of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. It’s just borderline corny and somewhat cartoonish particularly when she’s saving the two young girls by either dropping them on a rocking horse or spinning them into giant teddy bears.

Also there’s that Cairo highway chase scene which sees Steve and Diana chasing after Max Lord who has just achieved his goal of claiming an army. I both like and dislike this scene. I like the scene for showing the starting effects of Diana’s power loss which is later explained to be the cause of Barbara’s wish to be like her which means she is syphoning Diana’s power.

On the flip-side, I really don’t like the overall action in this scene. Firstly, she seemingly has her armour on underneath her clothes because as she’s getting out the car she has her clothes on one minute and her armour in the next shot with no spinning involved.

Secondly, she gets out the car and starts running almost instantly while the car is still moving...I get she’s a demigoddess and therefore normal laws of motion may not apply to her but there’s no dodgy transition or stumbling or anything, she just starts running...Baywatch style to a remix of her theme which is brilliant but because of her losing her powers she is somewhat weakened and therefore you see her bleed. The whole scene just seems rather sloppy.

Regardless of the somewhat lacklustre action of the movie, Wonder Woman 1984 excels in presenting a different form of battling with words rather than weapons. Diana’s message of hope and love at the end of the movie may be a complete switch around from how she was all for being the god-killer in the first movie where Ares was involved, but it’s definitely a good message and, particularly in these times, a needed message.

Sometimes love and hope is enough, Diana does try and see the best in everyone and cannot understand or comprehend evil unless there is no other option. Ares was the God of War and as such a personification of hate and therefore evil. Max was simply corrupted and misguided and Diana could see that, just as Barbara was.

All of this is sold in Gal Gadot’s performance. You can tell from the start Diana is doing what she’s doing because she feels it is what’s right, but particularly when Steve comes back and the ultimatum is either saving the world or keeping him she is definitely torn at one point. Steve is the only thing she has ever wished for herself other than becoming a warrior and protector so why shouldn’t she be rewarded for her decades of servitude?

Also, much like every movie she appears in, Gal Gadot looks stunning throughout this movie. Not just in her Wonder Woman and Golden Armor but also in her Diana persona, she wears what appears to be a boiler suit at one point in this movie and still looks like it could be modelled on a runway. I know Gal is/was a model but she is never defined by that. When she’s acting she’s an actress first and a model second and the clothes never wear her.

My favourite look of hers which I now have in Funko form is her gala dress because not only does it honour her Amazon roots but it just looks stunning.

Her Wonder Woman armour here is made somewhat more cheesecaky than her other versions and it does make Diana look somewhat like Wonder Woman barbie but because of the vibrant 80s setting this movie is in and particularly with who else shows up in the movie offering a great parallel to it, it actually won me over. If this is how Wonder Woman looks as a diplomat I’ll allow it.

I really do enjoy the parallels between the DCEU’s Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne in terms of the detective/vigilante combination. Because there was little fighting here, Diana was allowed to be the detective more, travelling to different places tracking down Max Lord and figuring out that the Dream Stone is the cause of Steve returning from the dead.

However, while they may be pushing Diana and Bruce together in the present day, Diana’s true love is Steve Trevor and the two do have a fantastic blend of a working and romantic partnership on par, for me, with Ant-Man and the Wasp from the comics.

Outside of Steve though, Diana definitely has no love-loss for other men until the end of this movie. She sees right through Max Lord’s childish bravado at the start of the movie, she’s quick to repel any letchy guy throughout this movie, and it isn’t until Steve effectively gives her permission to move on at the end that she does...albeit seemingly with the man whose body Steve took over which seems a little backwards to me but I’ll allow it.

Wonder Woman also gets some fancy new upgrades in this movie. Not only do we have more functions of the Lasso of Truth with showing memories and broadcasting a voice, but also Diana gets her invisible jet through the means of a new power being able to make things invisible which she says is inherited from her father (Zeus) who used the power to hide Themyscira from the world.

The jet is a great precursor to what comes later because while flying in the jet, Diana talks about her longing to be able to fly which we all know as fans that she can do in pretty much every other incarnation yet all we’ve seen her do in the DCEU is leap long distances.

So the payoff when she actually flies after letting go of Steve finally was fantastic, honestly a fist-pumped the air and startled my dog because I got that excited. I do love how she still uses her lasso to propel herself and swing from lightning because it’s kind of like training wheels but seeing her fly at the very end unaided was everything.

I can’t decide how I feel about the ending, I do love how Diana saved the day in terms of using words over weapons, but it’s the fact she is pretty much looking directly at the camera while giving this big hope and love speech implying that she is talking to us as an audience as well as the world within the movie. It just seems very much a #BeKind movement which, again, is an important message particularly in today’s climate. But why does this need to be in a superhero movie?

Gal Gadot continues to be rather funny in the role as well. As with the first movie though, her humour is never really in jokes or in her actions but rather in serious dry whit. This kind of humour is right up my street. From her rejection of Max’s offer to buy her a TV to teaching Steve about the advancements in the 1980s from his time it was all rather well handled.

Diana simply continues to be a very warm and welcoming hero and Gal Gadot radiates these traits effortlessly. You feel bad whenever she feels bad, you want to cry whenever she cries, you get angry whenever she gets angry and you smile whenever she smiles. Gal Gadot continues to be as perfect in the role of Wonder Woman as Johnny Depp is for Jack Sparrow and Rosario Dawson is Ahsoka Tano.

Max Lord:

Okay so this is where things get complex because, to the best of my knowledge, this version of Max Lord is not the same as the one from the comics or any other media I’ve seen...I genuinely actually think they say Lord isn’t even his actual surname in this movie.

Alright, so this is where I’m slightly conflicted on this character. Maxwell Lord from the comics and Smallville where I first became aware of the character is a meta with the ability to control minds.

Becoming the Dream Stone doesn’t really give him the same power as effectively it makes him a genie but the power of the dream stone being equivalent to that of the Monkey’s Paw which grants wishes with consequences I guess is of similar elk.

Also, it’s not stated but shown that Max has some sort of degenerative condition before obtaining the stone but using the power of the stone seemingly sped up the condition because by the third act of the movie he looked like a shell of a man.

Obviously he knew of this which is why he wanted to utilize the stone’s power to a mass audience in order to grant their wishes and in return syphon their health and wealth but this is why I say that neither he nor Barbara were true villains because they were corrupted by the power the stone gave them.

I have a very weird stance of sympathetic villains, Cheetah is supposed to be a sympathetic villain to a degree but I’ve never really seen Max as such. In Smallville he is pretty much a henchman or underling whereas in Supergirl he was somewhat an anti-hero towards the end but mainly a villain.

I get the movie’s message of “Nothing good comes from hate” is in reference to the stone which was made by a trickster god and as such is inherently corrupt which makes its users also corrupt but not evil. But considering I originally didn’t think Max would be the main antagonist of the movie, when it was revealed he was I wanted to see some evil for evil’s sake behaviour rather than power corrupts twice over.

Also, in relation to his wishing power, the scene in which he tries to go through numerous clients to regain his health does play off a lot like Lucifer luring out people’s greatest desires. 

Speaking of the wishes, two aspects of this I want to highlight. Firstly, when he reaches out to the world and grants everyone’s wishes, that one wish the diner lady utters about wanting the Irish to go back to where they come from...as someone of Irish heritage this is that wish I mentioned being from the U.K. was a surprising factor in for me...despite my Irish heritage being of Republic blood rather than Northern.

Secondly, I have now seen this movie twice and I do not know the reason for the weird satellite light that Max was in during the climax. I mean everything was basically going to hell and Max receiving the energy of the wishes and granting the wishes was basically giving him this protective funnel which Wonder Woman couldn’t penetrate, but was the light from the satellites and why did he need the satellites other to broadcast himself which he’s clearly already doing so what’s going on? I may not be making much sense but I genuinely don’t know what was going on at that point.

Pedro Pascal was still very good in this role, he comes across a lot better in the actual movie than he does in the trailers because the shots we see of him in the trailers I genuinely thought he was wearing a hairpiece, and he still might be but it looks more natural throughout the movie.

I know Pascal to be a rather funny individual in interviews and behind the scenes of other projects, but I’ve never seen him actually be funny in character...again I’m not sure how I feel about a comedic villain, but between this role and his role as Agent Whisky in Kingsman: The Golden Circle, he has the makings of a great villain actor.

There were times when Pascal played the character like Steve Carrell voice’s Gru in Despicable Me which again plays into the comedic villain angle but overall I felt his motives were clear and the way in which he went about achieving his goals was bold, ballsy and well executed.

I get why they added a son for Max in this movie and I am glad they stuck with the fact Pedro Pascal is Latino despite I don’t believe the character originally is but it added some diversity to the movie along with Gal Gadot’s Israeli accent. But yeah the point of the son was to personify what Max sacrificed in exchange for his wish because all he wants deep down is to be a success in his son’s eyes and feels this is how to go about it, but when it’s the choice between his son’s safety over the completion of his dynastic plan, similarly to Diana choosing to give up what she wants (Steve) for the greater good, he chooses his son.

Also I will say this. When Alastair tells Max that he already loves him because he’s his dad and strokes his face...Had I actually seen this movie when it came out in the U.K. it would have been two days before the finalé of The Mandalorian Season 2. But because I saw that finalé first and the very emotional scene between Din and Grogu...to see that pretty much replicated here felt slightly lacklustre.

Max doesn’t die at the end, no one dies in this entire movie (technically) so there is room for him to return unless they do another time jump. I’m not sure why he would return unless he goes full villain for villainy sake rather than corruption but I am actually happy he survived.

Having said that, one of Wonder Woman’s most famous moments from the comics is snapping the neck of Maxwell Lord. This could have easily been the climax of the movie but I feel thanks to Man of Steel giving this plot point to Superman when he snapped Zod’s neck, despite chronologically this coming first it would lose it’s momentum,

Cheetah:

I will admit I was not as disappointed with Barbara as I thought I would be going into this movie.

Having said that, I’m going to start with the negatives before talking about the positives of the character.

Firstly, both Barbara and later Cheetah are redheads, Kristen Wiig is naturally not but for the role of the character she could have easily worn a wig or died her hair for the role because not only is Barbara being portrayed as the ditzy blonde at the start of the movie a little redundant at this point, when she became Cheetah it did not look right with her as a blonde.

Now let’s talk about the actual Cheetah look. We’ve seen that one shot of her in the DC Fandome trailer but it was so dark and so quick that there was practically nothing to analyse, seeing her appear in the final 30 minutes of this movie...which is how long she actually appears as Cheetah...it’s both a lot to take in but also a lot to be disappointed in.

So Barbara’s turning point to villainy I feel isn’t when she beats up that man who attempted to assault her, but instead when she fears Diana and Steve are talking about killing Max to save the world because he absorbed the stone and the stone needs to be destroyed to save the world from carnage.

At this point she appears at the White House just as Diana has Max captive, dressed in this admittedly trendy Cheetah-print attire, incapacitates or possibly kills the White House security team and gives both Wonder Woman and Steve a whooping.

Firstly, the very fact there was no mention of the fact Barbara could tell Diana Prince and Wonder Woman were the same person just shows how daft the secret identities of some of these DC Heroes is.

But secondly, when Max retreats, Barbara hitches a ride with him and gets another wish for saving his life. Rather than wishing to be like Diana this time, she wishes to become an Apex Predator and is therefore granted the anger and vengeance of all the people Max grants wishes to via satellite.

This combination somehow turns her into a Cheetah as when we next see her she is Cheetah...a very badly CG’d undeveloped version of Cheetah but this is our Cheetah.

My version of Cheetah is from Injustice 2 and I know a bit of her backstory in the comics enough to know she was an archaeologist who was cursed to become the Cheetah and how in the DC Rebirth Wonder Woman, Barbara and Diana were friends but then when she became Cheetah, she felt betrayed by Diana and became her enemy that way.

That’s kind of similar here but it’s not a Cheetah curse that made her Cheetah, it’s a wish and a very literal interpretation of the wish “I want to become an Apex predator”...what’s an apex predator? A cheetah, get it?

Also as Cheetah, she just looks like Barbara styled her hair different and bought a Cheetah onesie. I wish she had gone full cheetah with the face, instead we get some very weird make-up which seems to wash off when they land in the water and some weird contouring or something to give Kristen Wiig a different nose...they could have continued the Cheetah fur on the face, given her cat-eyes, bigger fangs, something!

Again, Barbara’s villainy stems from power corruption, Barbara’s first wish was wanting to be like Diana and because of this got her powers so went a little bit power mad when she discovered she had super strength and speed.

Interestingly though, despite being electrocuted, Barbara does survive and when all the wishes are renounced she reverts back to a human...or does she?

Keep in mind that we never see Barbara take back her wish, in fact she is quite adamant in not doing that which leads Diana to making the hard call. The fact is it was by Max’s hand that Barbara finally became Cheetah so when he took back the wish of becoming the Dream Stone, that wish was rescinded…but Barbara’s original wish of becoming like Diana and thus gaining the powers of an Amazon demigoddess actually might still be in tact.

It’s implied that she is still pissed at Diana even after reverting back to human, so I do see her returning more than I do Max Lord but in her return I hope there’s a Cheetah redemption.

Steve Trevor:

I am really starting to be won around by Chris Pine as an actor. Originally in my list of “Hollywood Chris’” he was at the bottom because he isn’t Marvel, but now I think I actually would put him ahead of Pratt. Not only do I love him in this role here but also Rise of the Guardians which I’ve re-watched over the holidays.

So when it was announced that Pine would return as Steve Trevor in a movie set decades after the first movie which he died in, I like a lot of fans were curious as to how they were going to accomplish this. I mean we’re dealing with the DC variation of Greek Mythology and so I thought maybe Hades could be a factor, but then when the MacGuffin known officially I think as a Dream Stone became a factor with the trailers, the idea of him being resurrected as a wish by Diana was speculated which was kind of true but there was a catch in that he only came back to Diana but taking over another man’s body.

The movie I think beautifully brings Diana’s childhood lesson taught to her by Aunt Antiope about cheating full circle with the wish she makes to see Steve again. In her defence, Diana did not know what she was doing or that she was actually wishing on a wishing stone, but when she realises the impact that this seemingly innocent wish is having on the world, ultimately she has to wake up to the fact that this is a cheat because Steve is dead but Diana has brought him back in another man’s body...without his consent. Again, NOT DIANA’S FAULT, but she is pseudo-responsible and so can’t win because she cheated. This is a plot point I wish they had developed further or highlighted more because, having seen it twice now in the past 24 hours, that is probably my favourite message of the movie. Cheaters never prosper, not even Wonder Woman or Cheetah.

Steve being introduced to the 1980s was a great chance to reverse the fish out of water story Diana had in the first movie but while hers was one of both wonder and humour, Steve’s was mostly wonder and it was so endearing to see.

I loved how we didn’t take too long on Steve exploring the 80s, I liked how organically it was woven into the ongoing story. We did get that great small touring scene of Diana showing Steve the art and the breakdancing, but that he discovered pop tarts and his wonder in wanting to fly that jet rather than simply get on a plane to travel to Cairo, it was all very well done and that’s mostly on Chris Pine.

I did find the body-snatching a little bit creepy at first and at the very end. We didn’t meet the guy that Steve inhabited (for want of a better word) so I don’t feel strongly positively or negatively about him because we don’t know him, but when we meet him at the end when we somehow flashforward from July to Christmas, I did feel weird that not only did it seem that he and Diana were interested in each other but also the fact it wasn’t even mentioned that he couldn’t remember the time that Steve was in his body.

As I said before when talking about Diana, the blend of the romantic/working relationship between Diana and Steve is (sorry) #relationshipgoals for superhero couplings. I am aware that Steve Trevor isn’t a superhero but neither is Lois Lane but both civilian halves of these superhero couples are very potent in the comics and I have never understood this particular relationship until now.

Steve is as strong a part of the duo as Wonder Woman is because while he doesn’t have her Amazon physiology, he has that core inner strength that he had in the last movie which is why he sacrificed himself originally...now yes he pretty much did the exact same thing here but this was after he was pretty much carrying Diana through that D.C. street and seeing all the chaos that these wishes were causing...genuine anarchy....that Steve knew the only way Diana could regain her strength and save the world was for her to let go of him.

It was the most emotional scene of the movie for me and the only scene to almost make me cry. after crying at the Mandalorian finalé I am not crying at another show or film for a while but still, because not only could you tell both of them didn’t want this to happen but also as Diana pulls herself away from Steve not looking at her as the camera pans away from him you just hear his voice saying “I will always love you Diana, no matter where I am”. There’s never been a more potent portrayal of a superhero couple in my opinion in the movies. Tony and Pepper came close in Avengers: Endgame but this tops it for me.

Do I see Steve returning again? Yes, because I feel when you’re dealing with a property about gods and magic there is always potentiality for anything. I mean this movie is the definition of potentiality for anything because I think if it does succeed then they get away with a lot that other properties wouldn’t, but anyway yes I want Chris Pine to return to this role because I love him in it.

Amazons:

This is another scenario where the advertising lets the audience make up what is in store for us with announcements because announcing that Robin Wright is returning as Antiope after dying at the start of the last movie does raise suspicion.

The obvious solutions were resurrection, vision or flashback and for the majority of Amazon scenes save for one it was all flashbacks which I’m not going to grumble at because I enjoyed that opening scene.

I like how Themyscira basically has their own version of Ninja Warrior and that this scene was most likely set chronologically after Antiope agreed to train her. Which begs the question why her mother was so okay with it considering even as an adult Hippolyta has issues with Diana becoming a warrior but her contribution was so short I let that slide.

I’ve already mentioned how Antiope’s lesson of cheater’s never prosper was utilized so well in this movie but, similarly to Chris Pine, I just love any reason to bring back Robin Wright.

Aside from Hippolyta and Antiope though there was a third minor Amazon focused on in a couple of scenes in this movie, that is the ancient Amazon warrior Asteria.

Asteria was mentioned a couple of times, firstly by Hippolyta in reference to her statue as someone to strive to become and then by Diana to Steve when discussing the origins of her Golden Armor. During this discussion we see a flashback of Asteria in a crouched position being whaled on by Neanderthals protecting the Amazons as they retreated to Themyscira. We only see her eyes and at this point in the movie I thought Asteria was a throwaway character and so Connie Nielson was doing double-time as Hippolyta and Asteria.

However, this proves to be untrue as in the only post-credits scene we get we see Asteria walking down seemingly the same street we left Diana on in Washington, though they never clarify where it is. Furthermore we originally only see the back of her and she is dressed a lot like Diana with the same hair and clothing style. She even effortlessly stops a pillar or lamppost from crashing down.

But it isn’t Diana, at least not the one Gal Gadot is portraying...as it is revealed to be Asteria portrayed by Lynda Carter in a fabulous short, sweet and somewhat cheeky sequence where she states “I’ve been doing this for a long time” with a cheeky wink directly to the camera. I mean she basically echoes lines Diana says in the movie, but the fact it’s OG Wonder Woman and knowing we’re also getting Michael Keaton returning as Batman in the upcoming Flashpoint movie, it’s all just brilliant.

Obviously for fans of the Supergirl series, Lynda Carter had a recurring role on that as Earth-38′s President of the United States who was an alien and I have also seen her in Sky High, but looking at her here she just looks flawless.

Does this mean we’re going to see Asteria in Wonder Woman 3? I can’t wait to find out.

DCEU:

Speaking of the larger DCEU, this movie does absolutely nothing to connect itself to any other DC movie or property. We’re in 1984...Bruce Wayne is 12 so at this point has lost his parents, the original Black Canary is potentially crime-fighting, it’s the year Lex Luthor is born, Clark Kent is living in Smallville, Amanda Waller would just be starting out in the career that would see her become director of ARGUS. There are so many possibilities particularly as we haven’t had a movie set in the 80s within the DCEU before.

This is where DC continues to flounder where Marvel succeeds. They do not grab the opportunities for a cinematic universe expansion and instead keep everything contained. I don’t even think the events of Wonder Woman were mentioned outside of Steve’s death.

Particularly as we now have to wait until August for The Suicide Squad as the next DC movie (outside of the Snyder Cut), it would have been nice either if there would have been a tease to lead into that or even if something in this movie links to the Snyder Cut of Justice League.

Overall I rate this movie a 7/10, it’s a very enjoyable movie if you manage to follow all the threads the plot weaves into this movie, because they’re not seamless.

I’ve actually paid attention to the box office, reviews and CinemaScore for these movies since Birds of Prey and I have to say for being a focussed Wonder Woman movie it is underperforming from the first one with a B+ here as opposed to an A there, but considering Diana’s first outing was in Batman v Superman with a B score, I think the fact both Justice League and this have a B+ bodes well as it averages out with middle of the pack superhero movies, and that’s a good way to describe this movie.

It’s not better than the original, and there are many tangles within it, but it’s not a terrible movie. Again I’ve seen it twice in the last 24 hours and neither time got old for me.

So that’s my review of Wonder Woman 1984, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC Movie Reviews as well as other Movie Reviews and posts.

[unmaskedagain]

Made me Do (Queen of Mean)

I decided to do a quick follow up fic to the Queen of Mean AU. I’m leaning towards a ship. Can you guess what it is by the end?

Marinette smiled amicably at passing staff as her makeup was done. The sun was bright and shinning. The park with its slopping hills and the beautiful green grass was picturesque. Half of it was cut off from the public. The shoot would last a majority of the morning and a bit into the after.

The head makeup artist cooed over her bluebell eyes and raved about her beautiful “exotic” features; which nearly made Marinette sneer. Oh the things she put up with.

           But she had to. Time for childish naivety was over. She needed her name out there. She an “in”.

           And while she never wanted to be model, never desired the spotlight, never wanted more than to be a fashion designer and for clothes to leave the world in awe, never wanted more than to be nice and good and to live her dreams just as she dreamed them… Marinette understood…

           The world wasn’t kind. It was a tilted stage. Everyone played their own little games to get ahead. So Marinette was forced to play a role she never wanted.

Model.

Actress.

Trendsetter.

Ice princess.

           Still once a day, since Marinette had begun her reign, did Mari have to tell that little voice in her pipe down? The voice that sounded like the old her. The old, nice, kind Marinette who loved everyone and the thought the best of everyone. And the New Marinette would doubt herself, wonder if she was fraud, a sellout. But then she remembered that the old Marinette never realized just how wrong she was until it was too late.

           Until her friends turned their back on her. Until her life’s work, her prized sketchbook was ripped up and left for her to pick up the pieces like what remained of her heart. She was a fool. And the only good thing that ever came out of that experience was she gotten to learn who her real friends were. Learned out to really stand up for herself, damn the rest of the world.

           In a way, she was almost wanted to thank Lila. Lila had been her initiation into the real world. Her manipulative little games were the perfect crimes. The way no one ever seen her laugh when she lied. The way she swore up and down that it was Marinette with the metaphorical smoking gun; it was Marinette’s fault. It was cruel. And Marinette didn’t like her for it. She disliked herself more for falling into the traps Lila set.

           No! That Marinette would’ve never survived the real world. It’s why she had to go away. Marinette got smarter, hotter when she let Chloe show her how to use her beauty like a sword. And she did it fast, just in the knick of time because her parents had been considering transferring her.

           The old Marinette had to die, and the new Marinette rose up from the dead with a thirst for blood and a list of names; Lila’s was underlined in red. Every day, she checked it to remind herself just why she was doing what she was.

           When Lila’s mother came to school, with the principle storming up behind her, red-faced and steaming mad, all the students in the Cafeteria could only watch as the Italian lady roared at her daughter. Screamed about how all the lies had come back to bite her family in the ass; after all ambassadors had no business traveling to exotic places, with celebrities, on their country’s dime when they should be working.

           Marinette could only smirk as another confirmation of Lila’s lies was made public. All she could think of while it was happening was: Look what you made me do.

           Yes, Marinette had used her connections (Chloe. She asked Chloe to get her Dad to ask the right questions) to get the right info into Italy’s embassy’s ears about what their ambassador was up to.

Chloe made a nasty remark about how easily stupid people are led, that her class overheard from over at their table.  (Yes, their table. No matter how hard they tried. Marinette refused to go back to friendly terms with her classmates. Though she was polite to Kitty Section’s band members. Luka was her friend. And no matter, how hard she hinted that he’d thrive as solo artist; Luka was loyal.)

           It had taken days Lila’s mom to fix the mess and her bosses still eyed her suspiciously weeks later. She also made it clear that Lila was be attending summer school for her missed attendance and that they weren’t moving. Which meant that Lila wasn’t going to escape the mess she was in anytime soon. Which of course led to her being Akumatized… again. No matter, Ladybug took great pleasure in showing her a thing or two. In a way the old Marinette never would.

Marinette straighten her back and raised her chin as a onlookers started appearing behind the security gates. They pointed at her and waved excitedly. Marinette waved back.

The new Marinette understood why the spotlight was needed, why her face had to grace the covers of magazines, why blowing up on Instagram and twitter was the best thing that could happen to her.

Slowly but surely the world was whispering her name louder and louder as the days, week, and months, drew on. Paris, however, was all but screaming it.

Her face was on billboards. She was in perfume and make-up commercials for some well-known brands. She had gotten small, very small, roles on enough hit Paris shows to have people start recognizing her. It wasn’t long before all of France knew who Marinette Dupain-Cheng was… but that was mostly because of her, rather overzealous, fans.

Her slowly rising fanbase was equalizing her to a hurricane. Unexpected and potentially earthshattering; cold and severe, blowing them all out of their seats. Basically the opposite the resident walking ball of Sunshine that was Adrien Agreste.

           The media called it a friendly rivalry between competing designers.

Gabriel Agreste’s Sun.

Audrey Bourgeois’s Storm.

           The Sunshine child Vs The Storm Princess.

Audrey loved it. Loved the idea so much that she created an entire shoot for the cover of Teen Vogue; a cover that Adrien Agreste was supposed to have already booked.

The dress Marinette was wearing wasn’t her design. (And that killed her only a little). It was Audrey Bourgeois’. And it was an off-shoulder, hi-low hem dress. It was mix of purples, blacks, and blues. She had on a studded, leather jacket with knee high leather boots. A very Rocker princess look, complete with a sliver tiara on her head. The opposite of anything Adrien Agreste would ever be seen in.

Speaking of who. Adrien and what looked to be in the entire class was having another picnic. It wasn’t a surprise they were there. Sabrina has snitched to Chloe had Adrien had learned of the photoshoot from his father and wanted to “coincidently” catch Marinette outside of school. Maybe remind Marinette when she was still their every day Ladybug. The only surprising thing about the entire situation was the Sabrina was still firmly in Chloe’s back pocket; loyal to the end.

Chloe was getting her pictures done first. The entire photo shoot a deadly nature theme. She was a tornado. Her dress, very Coachella worthy, as was flowy and loose; a mix of greys, whites, and silvers. There were fans all around her blowing at worrying speeds. But Chloe didn’t bat an eye. She modeled like she was born for it. Marinette could only wonder why, with a daughter as gorgeous as Chloe, Audrey never considered making her a model. But people make stupid mistakes.

Marinette, for example, for every crushing on Adrien.

There was no longing left in her for the blond or Alya, who kept blatantly staring her way. Or for any of her other used to be friends.

That desire had died months ago. Back then she had been willing to do just about anything to be let back; to get a key back into kingdom. Her! When she was the one who starting bringing their little clique together back when most of them never even talked to each other. Marinette got them to be friends. No! She got them to be best friends; build what might one day be lifelong friendships to tell their kids about, that people would be envious of. And what happened?

They painted her as a villain, kicked her out and locked the door behind her.

“Might I ask how you know them?” A voice asked from next to her.

           Marinette shifted in her seat to eye the handsome, regal, blond, grey-eyed boy next to her, getting his own make-up done. He wore a suit of an icy blue and white., and an expression on his face that could’ve chilled out global warming. There was a dark silver crown on his head. She raised an eyebrow at him, “Ice King, right?” A blizzard.

“Felix,” He corrected. “And you are the Storm Princess?” There’s was no mocking in his tone, just curiosity.

           Of course Marinette knew who he was. Felix Culpa. A model that had been making waves longer than Marinette and Adrien. His mother, a close friend of Audrey, had built a fashion empire that he would inherit. His mother was Adrien’s aunt. Emilie’s older sister.

“Marinette,” She offered. “They are schoolmates of mine.”

“But not friends.” It wasn’t a question.

“Not anymore.”

Marinette had moved on and so did the rest of the world. Now drama in class was now a daily thing. Over the last few weeks Marinette had be subtly wreaking havoc in her class. A comment thrown here or there to start an agreement. Letting Chloe casually mention the amazing things they did that week. Or who they met. And if the people they met happened to be the idols of quite a number of her star struck classmates… Well nothing could be done about that.

It was Karma.

“Do they know that?”

“They should,” Marinette answered easily. They weren’t her friends anymore. They never would be again.

Maybe, Marinette got what she deserved for being too trusting. But they’ll get theirs too. Ladyblog was burning to cinders but somehow hanging on by a thread; apparently Lila becoming a well-known Liar in Paris made people not want to blame a poor little teen girl for falling into the web of lies.

“Does he know that?” Felix asked. “My dear cousin Adrien hasn’t taken his eyes off of you. Old boyfriend?”

           Marinette barked out a laugh. “I don’t know if I should be offended or not?”

           Felix leaned towards Marinette, a smirk on his face. “Offended, definitely. I don’t think I could think of a better insult for a princess.”

           She giggled. After that the two fell into an easy conversation. Each talking about their hobbies and everyday annoyances. Eventually, Marinette admitted to once having a crush on Adrien… before she grew a brain and saw that he was... Well, she had struggled to put it nicely.

“Spineless,” Felix, luckily offered. “I know. Believe me. The oaf is way too passive for anyone’s own good.”

“There!” The makeup artists announced looking them both over. “All done.” And within seconds, her team was packed up to move on his a lovely Hispanic girl dressed to be a volcanic eruption.

           It was moments later that they each were called to their own shoots. Marinette and Felix walked side by side, like royalty. Marinette ignored the waves and calls from her classmates and tried to steel down her nerves. No matter how many times she stepped in front on the camera she could never stop the butterflies in her stomach from happening.

“Everyone gets nervous.” Felix suddenly said. “Before a big shoot, I still get a nauseous feeling.”

“What do you do?”

“I remind myself just who I am,” He answered. “I suggest you do the same. They call me the Ice Prince, for a reason.  They call you a storm, be the storm.”

           Marinette nodded firmly and steeled herself. Her blue eyes narrowed and a frosty look appeared on her face.

           The photographer loved it.

“You’re beautiful, princess.” Zara, the photographer, yelled. “Your rage is screaming off you. More. I need more.”

           Rage was easy. All she had to do was cast a look at Alya and the rest.

“Oh the lightening in your eyes is stunning.”

           Marinette twirled. Her dress blew in the harsh wind of the fans.

“There’s no calm after this Storm.”

“Beautiful and deadly,” Zara commented. “You. Are. The. Storm.”

           Felix finished his shoot first and came over to hers. He stood behind Zara, next to the computer monitors. It took a lot of Marinette’s willpower not to keep glancing at him. He surveyed the since passively, not a hint of emotion on his face.

“Marinette come over here!” Zara called to where she stood next to computer monitors.

           Marinette glided over and her mouth dropped at the images on the screen. That was her? No, that couldn’t be her. The girl on the scream was angry and wild; a force of nature. She was…

“Beautiful,” Felix said. “Absolutely stunning.”

           Marinette snorted, very un-ladylike. “You’re one to talk.” She motioned to his pictures. “I’ve never seen anyone look so majestic.” So handsome.

           Felix raised an eyebrow. “Imagine how we’d look together.”

“YES!”

           Wait, did that come out of her mouth. Tikki, please tell me that didn’t come out of my mouth, Marinette silently begged.

           Luckily it didn’t. It was Zara. The redhead practically jumped up and down. “A clash of natures. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful. We’re shooting it!”

           And they did. At first Felix and Marinette seemingly danced around each other. Then they danced with each other. It took everything Marinette had not to turn bright red when Felix put one hand in her’s and the other on the small of her back.

“Look at each other like the other is the best thing you ever saw.”

“That won’t be too hard,” Felix whispered.

           Marinettte’s eye bulged and let out a small gasp. And then a hiss of rage. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Oh hell yes!” Wait what? “Hashtag IceStorm.” Chloe catcalled.

“Ugh,” Felix groaned as they changed poses. Now they were only, just barely holding hands. As they glared together as the world; daring it to not to tremble before them. It was their last shot. “Bourgeois. Adrien’s only friend. The always available playmate of my childhood. I thought I escaped.”

“Hey, that’s my best friend you’re groaning about,” Marinette glared up at him. (And damn his height!) “And I have you know she’s one of Adrien’s most tolerable friends.”

           Felix paled. “The most tolerable? What are other soulless harpies that drag you down to the underworld?”

“You’ll wish.”

           Felix nodded. “I certainly will. I’m to join Adrien’s class on Monday. Though from what you told me, I should be on the lookout for traits and nasty liars who lie.”

           Marinette blushed. She had complained a bit to him.

           Zara called it quits. And Chloe joined the two as they walked back to the dressing rooms. When they separated, Chloe pointed out, “Finally. I wondered when you two lovebird would stop holdings hands.”

           They blushed when they realized that yes, they had in fact held hands the entire way there. Chloe cackled as they rushed into the trailers.

“You’re evil,” Marinette hissed at Chloe when the door shut behind her.

“Yes but you love that about me.”

“Not when you use it against me.” Marinette grumbled.

           After they changed, Marinette and Chloe walked out of the trailer giggling over new crushes. Felix was waiting for them which just made Chloe burst into laughter. He was dressed in a black button down shirt with grey slacks and a grey tie.

           Marinette would get that girl back.

“And what are you lovely ladies up to this evening?” Felix asked, ignoring Chloe’s snickers.

“We’re going ice skating with two friends of ours: Luka and Kagami,” Marinette answered. “You should join us.”

           Felix agreed and the three walked passed the security gates into the park. They had been in the park less than a minuete before… it happened.

           A Frisbee landed in front of them.

“Sorry about that,” Alya said as she jogged up to them. Adrien and Nino trailing behind her. The class had forgiven Adrien quicker than Marinette thought they would. “Marinette, gurl, I didn’t know you were hear.”

“Bullshit,” Chloe snorted.

“We were just leaving,” Marinette chimed.

“Wait,” Adrien said. “Why don’t you stay? We’re having a picnic.”

“Can’t. Plans.” Chloe answered coolly.

           Alya glared. “We weren’t inviting you.” She turned pleading eyes to Marinette. “I really need to talk to you. I need help. The Ladyblog needs help. I was wondering if you could set up an interview with Ladybug again. Like last time.”

           The two girls froze and just looked at the reporter, stunned. Was Alya serious? Was she insane?

           White-hot rage rushed over Marinette. HOW. DARE. SHE?

“Is that appropriate?” Felix asked suddenly. “Are you two friends?”

“No,” Marinette quickly snapped. “We’re not friends. And it’s appropriate. Ladybug made it clear she doesn’t work want to work with you.”

“More like she hates tabloids,” Chloe crossed her arms and glared fiercly at the three.

           Alya stiffened indignantly. “The Ladyblog is not a tabloid,” She shrieked. “Its serious journalism. And Ladybug trusts you Marinette, she’ll listen.”

“Ah the blog that news discredited.” Felix added.

“Dude, it was a misunderstanding.” Nino said.

“Due to the lack of fact checking,”

           Adrien step to his cousin. “You don’t know. You weren’t there.”

“You are correct,” Felix admitted. “However, I did make sure double check my resources. I wanted to confirm just what type of class I was enrolling into. So I researched. Anyone could do it.”

           Marinette looked Alya up and down. “Well, not just anyone, I suppose.”  Alysa flushed. “Ladybug said I was bias because of my past friendship with you. She won’t listen to me again. Yes Ladybug trusts me almost as much as she doesn’t trust you.”

           Hurt filled Alya’s eyes.

Yeah, Marinette wanted to say, look what you made me do.