#also yes steve killed the waynes because i like to suffer

[imfinereallyy]

Bedside Manner

for @acasualcrossfade request for "the infection has spread"

"Some birdie told me that you have been causing a fuss, Wayne, is that true?"

Wayne huffs from his hospital bed, glasses sliding down his nose. He places the newspaper he was reading on the table beside him. "You tell that Robbie of yours to stop exaggerating. It was only a small request."

Steve raises his eyebrows at his favorite patient (Dustin tells him he isn't supposed to have favorites, but he also used to cry anytime he picked up Max before him when they were younger, so what does he know) and gives him a knowing look. "Robin listens to no man, Wayne, you know this. You're better off sending that message through her wife. Besides, small? She was telling me you refused to have any other nurse help you because I wasn't here last night. Which surprised me since you are always pushing me on about taking a vacation. "

Wayne opens his mouth, but Steve presses on. "And the fact Robin was even in the room means they called a psych consult, so I can only imagine how bad it was."

Wayne grumbles like a little kid being scolded for getting his hands caught in the cookie jar. "Yea, well, it was a bad night, kid."

Steve feels his shoulders sag, he takes off his glasses and rubs a hand down his face before placing them back on. "Sorry, Wayne, I had a bad migraine last night. Nance and Robs wouldn't even let me pass the entrance. Bad news?"

"Kid, don't stress yourself out over me. I'm just your patient, and more so, I am just a cranky old man." Wayne patted Steve's knee as he sat down next to him.

"C'mon, Wayne. You're more than that. I'd like to think seeing you in and out of here the last year has made us friends. Although I gotta say, you're the only friend I have that I'll be glad if I don't get to see again, given the circumstances. So, what's the news?"

"The infection has spread."

Steve takes in a deep breath, he tries not to panic, but any infection in a hospital can be deadly, especially for a cancer patient like Wayne. "Incision site?"

Steve must not be as good at hiding his emotions as he used to be because Wayne jumps to ease his worry. "No, kid, don't worry. The surgery was a success. Just got that hospital fever, the good old bronchitis. But it just means I'm here longer than I have to. It also means my nephew is on edge, and I don't know if I can take a second longer of his hovering."

Steve laughed wetly, thankful for the topic change. "Ah yes, the mysterious nephew of yours that I've never met. The way you talk about him almost tempts me into switching to the day shift, sounds like he might be entertaining. But only almost."

"Always wondered why you were always working the nights, most of the others seem to switch. Not a big fan of the day?"

Steve shakes his head gently, "No, I like the quiet here at night. Like getting to know the patients without having to worry about fixing ten million things. Don't get me wrong, it has its downfalls. Like the doctors can be horrible at night, never tell Dr. Wheeler that or Robbie will kill me, and the food is awful. But there is something special about it here at night. So sorry, your ridiculous nephew isn't enough to tempt me."

Wayne smirked, "What if I told you he was a looker and single?"

Steve blushes slightly. He is used to patients trying to pawn him off to their relatives, it came with being a young male nurse, but typically it didn't phase him. But Steve has become close with Wayne, so hearing him suggest he get together with his nephew has him flustered. "I'm good, Wayne, thanks. Gave up on the dating scene a while ago. Not many people can keep up with a guy who works nights and suffers from severe head trauma."

"Shame, Eddie likes the nights too. I'd reckon yal would get along."

"I'm pretty sure we would need more than that, Wayne."

Wayne smiles fondly at Steve. "You don't need a whole lot to build a connection, son. Me and Linda, god rest her soul, only started dating for our mutual love of mugs. And we may not have had long together, but our love was strong. Besides, there is more yal would have in common than just the night shift."

Steve huffs a laugh, "Oh yea, like what?" The least he can do is humor the man.

"Well, you both care about me deeply."

Steve blushes again, "C'mon, Wayne. I'm your nurse. I'm kinda paid to care."

Wayne won't hear any of it, "No, son, it's more than that. You take your break in here every night. You make sure to record the game at home for me because they only have the news here. And last night, you tried to come in with a migraine, even though we both know I am the only patient you can stand right now."

Steve doesn't know what to say back. Wayne is right, of course. Steve has been spending all of his time with the man, giving him extra care. Steve isn't bad with his other patients, he goes above and beyond most of his coworkers, but there is something special about Wayne.

"You got nothing, kid, you know I'm right. Remind me a lot of my nephew. Before visiting hours ended is when I got the news of having to stay longer. Kid almost threw a fit when they kicked him out. Swore he was gonna break in to stay the night with me. I told him not to worry since you would be there, I brag about you too, ya know. When he found out today you weren't here, that boy threw a fit again. Swear he gets his tantrums from his father. Said he was gonna sneak back in tonight. Make sure I had company. That 'the man' couldn't stop him. That if he ran into you, he was gonna have a word with you."

Steve can't help the snort that shakes his body, "I'd like to see him get passed Hop first."

Wayne starts to chuckle, too, "Eds may have had his fair share of escaping the law, but no man moves as fast as Jim in a security uniform."

Steve is fully laughing now, "I know, right? It's like those pants make him aerodynamic or something. No way your nephew is getting by."

It is almost as if Steve's words summon what happens next. There in the doorway is the most gorgeous man he's ever seen, even though he is bent over and out of breath.

"Eds?" Wayne questions, clearly surprised. Steve has to mask his face and quickly before Wayne catches him ogling his nephew. Steve is finding it difficult, though. The man, Eddie, despite his out-of-breath appearance, is stunning. His long curly hair is thrown up in a bun, showing off the piercings up his ears. His clothes are simple but suiting, ripped jeans and a black band tee. Tattoos cover his entire body, and Steve wants to ask about every single one of them.

The most surprising thing about him isn't that he got by Hop (although he has questions for that later), no the most surprising thing to Steve is that Wayne somehow knew his exact type, which most people assume wrong in that department.

Eddie awakens an old craving inside Steve that he thought he had buried long ago.

"Wayne, you would not believe what I just went to get up here. The story I have for you, oh boy. You're gonna love it. Who knew security guards could move that fast. Anyway, I hope that nurse boy of yours is here tonight because I am ready to—" Eddie stops mid-rant when his eyes land on Steve, a lovely blush blossoming across his pale cheeks.

"I believe what you are trying to say is, what was it, Wayne? Oh yea, 'have a word with me,'" Steve laughs softly.

Eddie sputters, "Wayne!?!" His blushing becomes deeper as the seconds pass by.

Wayne just chuckles as Steve stands. "Don't be mad at your Uncle, I think he was just trying to make me feel better. I am sorry I wasn't here last night for the news. Got my head knocked around too much as a kid—" Steve taps his head with his knuckles, "—so I suffer from migraines sometimes. I really did try to come in, but well—you met Jim. He's pretty fast." Steve worries his lip. Eddie's eyes follow.

"Well, I can't be too mad now, can I?" Eddie swallows nervously before a smirk spreads across his face, switching from shy to confident in two seconds flat. Steve shouldn't be turned on by that. "The pretty face helps too. I'm pretty sure you could convince me to give you my kidney right about now. I'm Eddie, which I know you know by now, and you are...?"

Steve puts his hand out for a shake, "Nurse Harrington. But most people call me Steve."

Eddie grabs his hand gently and brings the back of it to his lips. "Stevie, a pleasure, really." A light kiss is placed on Steve's knuckles. Stevie, he thinks. That's a new one. And he isn't mad about it, at all. In fact, the butterflies in his stomach want him to get Eddie to say it again.

Steve catches Wayne's smug face in the corner of his eye as Steve begins to blush again.

"I'm just gonna—I'll be right back." Steve stutters.

"Leaving so soon?" Eddie says disappointed.

Steve has the sudden urge to fix the frown on his face. "No, no! Just, uh, gonna call Jim and tell him not to send out a search party. That it's okay if you stay. I'll keep an eye on you."

Eddie's face breaks out into a brilliant smile, "Really, Stevie? You gonna keep me around?"

Steve's heart skips a beat, "If I can help it."

***

[sergeant-angels-trashcan]

Having a Bad Day and started thinking about fictional characters and if they would kill someone for you or help you kill someone. Let's go.

Bruce Wayne

Will they commit murder for you? Absolutely not.

Will they help you commit murder? Absolutely not. In fact, if you and Bruce are friends before you commit murder, committing murder will destroy your friendship

Will they help you cover up a murder? I think he would not hinder an investigation but he would not go out of his way to provide evidence

Wade Wilson

Will they commit murder for you? Absolutely he will murder someone for you. Friends and family discount.

Will they help you commit murder? Oh for sure, Wade is helping you train to effectively commit murder

Will they help you cover up a murder? No, Wade is really bad at covering up crimes. He has very little practical knowledge on this

Damian Wayne (preferably like a young adult I don't want to ask a child to kill)

Will they commit murder for you? Yes he will absolutely kill someone for you. Wants to know how much he should drag it out

Will they help you commit murder? Would hesitate to help you kill someone but eventually decides he'd rather at least help you not get caught or also killed. Big 'well if you're going to drink I'd rather you do it in the house' parent energy

Will they help you cover up a murder? Damian is absolutely going to help you cover it up. You will never even worry about being caught. Nobody even knows there's a crime scene. Might not even know the person was murdered. Damian has your back.

Cassandra Cain

Will they commit murder for you? Yes, Cass will kill for you. Don't be silly.

Will they help you commit murder? Doesn't really want to but will so you're not doing it alone

Will they help you cover up a murder? Yes, and INCREDIBLY well

Jason Todd

Will they commit murder for you? Yes yes a thousand times yes. If you ask nicely enough murder is Jason's love language. Asks for a list.

Will they help you commit murder? He'd prefer if you didn't but will help you train for it. Gotta improve that upper body strength, you're in no position to strangle someone right now.

Will they help you cover up a murder? SO HAPPY that you trust him enough to help with cleanup! Leaves an impeccable crime scene, IF you can even call it that because you wouldn't know by looking

Bucky Barnes

Will they commit murder for you? Requires a little convincing, but yes.

Will they help you commit murder? Will stand behind you as backup in case things go south

Will they help you cover up a murder? Murder? What murder? There's certainly no evidence of that around here.

Steve Rogers

Will they commit murder for you? Needs a lot of convincing. Less if it's someone who has personally harmed you. Doesn't like taking matters into his own hands but understands the system is broken

Will they help you commit murder? Yeah, but only if you're really convincing or it's someone who has hurt you specifically. Like, he'll do it, but not willy-nilly like Wade would.

Will they help you cover up a murder? He'd bitch but he'd do it, honestly happier helping you clean it up than doing it himself.

Din Djarin

Will they commit murder for you? It's literally his job. Yes, and he will do it for free, or in exchange for babysitting services

Will they help you commit murder? You can't frame it that way, you have to say it's for like self defense or something but yeah, will help you prepare and do the actual deed

Will they help you cover up a murder? He will heave long-suffering sighs the entire time but yes. Also won't let you do any of the heavy lifting.

Fennec Shand

Will they commit murder for you? Yes, absolutely. Will commit murder for you without you needing to ask

Will they help you commit murder? Would prefer you just leave it to her, but she gets it, sometimes revenge has to be served personally

Will they help you cover up a murder? An expert at making it not look like a murder.

Dick Grayson

Will they commit murder for you? Not really, no. It would take a lot of exposure to your trauma from the person/people you want him to kill and at that point I think he'd be so angry and disgusted he'd beat them to a pulp. Murder would be too fast.

Will they help you commit murder? Grudgingly. Keeps telling you about all the ways it could go wrong. Will feel guilty he couldn't stop you, unless he's at the overexposure to your trauma stage in which case he's more ambivalent. Mostly wants to make sure you don't hurt yourself more in the process.

Will they help you cover up a murder? Yes, and he will hate every minute of it. Wakes up in a cold sweat for a year after thinking you must have forgotten some evidence. Will probably call Jason for help, so you're fine.

Joel Miller

Will they commit murder for you? Post-fungus, absolutely. Will murder for you without you needing to ask. Pre-fungus, yeah. Don't think it would be premeditated but he would

Will they help you commit murder? Pre-fungus, only if it's a self-defense kind of thing (emotional self-defense as well), I don't see him doing anything with premeditated murder. Post-fungus, will help you just to make sure you don't get killed yourself. Will correct your technique. May score you.

Will they help you cover up a murder? Post-fungus, what's the point? Pre-fungus, abso-fuckin-loutly. He's a contractor, plenty of places to hide bodies. Tommy owes him so you won't need to do anything, don't you worry, sweetheart.

Han Solo

Will they commit murder for you? Yeah, if you ask nicely enough

Will they help you commit murder? Sure thing, just don't ask him to be bait

Will they help you cover up a murder? Yes, and he will do it very badly. You are definitely going to get caught except Han can outrun the cops

Barbara Gordon

Will they commit murder for you? No, not really. Maybe. She needs to think about it.

Will they help you commit murder? Tries to talk you out of it. Points out how she can ruin their life digitally. Will hack the government to get the person or people put in specific prisons

Will they help you cover up a murder? She's successfully convinced you to not murder someone. However IF for some reason murder WAS committed, it would be natural causes or just an unfortunate accident, nobody's fault that a computer glitch erased "deathly allergic to walnuts" from their file

[antisociallilbrat]

I agree, Eddie's death was such a 'Steve death' moment when he died in Dustin's arms after saying he loves Dustin. Also, all of those convos between Eddie and Dustin would normally have been applicable for Dustin and Steve instead, and as you said, it is obvious the writers killed Eddie to give Dustin a more personal grief arc for S4 and S5, else why make Eddie as Dustin's brother figure specifically and have him die in Dustin's arms? They didn't even let Dustin be there at the hospital scene with the other Party members. He was spending time grieving Eddie and talking to Wayne instead, like... there is a reason why they showed Dustin's grief over Eddie. He was practically the only one grieving over him with Wayne and he was the one whose grief we had to focus on as the audience. And I love Steve, but if the Duffers actually were open to killing their main cast, they would have killed Steve instead. That's why it's kinda 'of obvious' to me that Steve is pretty much the safest character out of all the other characters, he not only is a main character but also a fan favorite. But I think since Eddie became such a popular character, the Duffers will focus on his character more via Dustin's grief in the next season. I doubt they'd bring him back though, but they'd most likely give Dustin a more focused arc regarding Eddie, possibly similar to Nancy's grief regarding Barb.

Yeah we're definitely going to be seeing Dustin grieving over Eddie in some capacity in season five. Although with the supposed time jump, I wonder how much we'll see of it.

What I would like to see would be a scene with Dustin and Mike talking about Eddie. Dustin filling Mike in what had happened with Eddie and them grieving Eddie together because Mike also had a link with Eddie. Also I just want more Dustin and Mike scenes in general, let other characters interact with each other Suffer Brothers!

I'm also hoping that since it's the final seasons, characters lives will actually be at stake because what the Suffer Brothers are doing right now, giving the main cast plot armor, is a disservice to the audience, or at least ones that like good storytelling.

Yes no one wants their favorite character to die but the story is more meaningful? (I don't think thats the word I'm looking for) when there's real threats to them. You should be sitting on the edge of your seat as your fav is up against a threat, you shouldn't be able to just assume they're safe just because they're apart of the main cast.

Characters dying can add more depth to them or complete their arc, make them more well rounded. And I'm not saying the Suffer Brother should go all walking dead with the main characters, but it would be nice to actually have to hold my breath and hope that my fav makes it out alive. The threat to their life should feel real. You want to feel emotion as you watch a show. The Suffer brothers have done this already, the Max scene killed me but that's still not permanent death. We know she's coming back and I hate that we know she's coming back, ya know? Just like with Hopper in season three.

Also none of main cast dying makes the villains look so lame. If Henry Creel can't kill one of the main characters, he's a poorly written villain. This is entirely my opinion though. And no he didn't even kill Eddie technically so it doesn't count.

I'll say my last point on this. The Suffer Brothers took a lot of inspiration from Stephen King's It. If you follow my blog you've seen me talk about this. And that is so ironic because King kills main characters in It. We don't even get to see much of adult Stan because he dies before the adult characters reunion. Then there's Eddie who died in the final battle, showing the threat against them was very real. King only had to one character during that battle to show that.

ALSO there's like SEVEN main character's in It and he killed TWO of them. I'm just saying

Thank you anon for your thoughts, I always love talking about stuff like this!

[curiositydooropened]

Cheers to lovely happy moods and writing motivation! 🍻

Now, for some Steve headcannons:

When he can’t sleep, when it’s a great day outside, or when he’s bored, he loves driving around back roads and listening to music (he also loves doing this with friends and just decompressing)

He may be portrayed as a dud in the last two seasons, but once he finds his person/someone more flustered than him, that “King Steve” comfidence/charm comes out

He’s always taking care of those around him, so I just know he loves to be a sub; however, when he’s had a really tough day, he will absolutely manhandle you

Will act all macho when first getting to know you, but will 10000% make you kill the spiders later on

Doesn’t like being alone, so even if he’s not in the same room as you, he finds comfort in knowing you’re in the house if he needs you

Aaaaand Eddie:

Absolute toilet humor; will dutch oven you and maniacally laugh

Gets excited about you wanting to learn guitar but is absolutely anal about how you handle his “sweetheart”

Loves reading fantasy/horror to you or reading the same book and chatting about it

Absolute dom energy once he gets past his awkward phase

May put on a cocky façade, but he gets insecure about what people say about him and you constantly reassure him that he’s perfect as is

As for what I’m proud of… hmm. I would say the fact that I started Pilates almost 2 months ago and I’ve stuck with it! I had my daughter almost two years ago and have been suffering with back pain after my c-section and my body whole body feels SO much better and less stiff. Working out in a gym would cause me to literally cry from pain, and this has caused me to cry because I can work out with no pain at all!

Now tell me what hcs you have and what you’re proud of!

Yes, yes, YES, ABSOLUTELY to all of this. I concur a thousand percent to it all, and I'm obsessed. Well, except with Steve making me kill the spiders (don't get me wrong, it's accurate) because I'm also terrified. So it might just be a watch the house burn down kind of situation. 😂

And ahhhhhhhh! I'm so so so proud of you for sticking with it and taking care of yourself and your body's needs and for making yourself feel good!!!!! That's so amazing, and I'm so happy for you!!!

OMG My headcanons okay so...

Steve

is for sure a worshipper, like you said, he takes good care. I'm talking calf massages, I'm talking having stir fry made when you get home, I'm talking bubble bath made to the perfect temperature

loves camping because he didn't get to do it as a kid. Not really. He camped in cabins or at luxury chalets but never in a sleeping bag in a tent on the cold hard ground, and he lives for it

although the nighttime sounds of the woods aren't ideal, and the first night out, he promptly packs up the sleeping bag and hauls you back to the backseat of his car because steel is safer than canvas

is a flirt. Like makes everyone blush, even Robin sometimes, despite her eye roll, cuz the shit he says is smooth

Eddie

is a menace. Absolute chaos demon. Keep lighters away from him because he will burn a rogue napkin and not care enough to stamp it out properly

spent a holiday season as one of those donation takers for the Salvation Army, out in front of Bradley's. (a favor for Wayne) But it only lasted a few hours before he was fired for chasing people down for their cash

gets freaky, I've got to be honest. This boy loves a costume. Wearing one, seeing you in one, doing voices, it's all on the table.

And I'm proud of myself because I stayed up really late last night reformating my resume and writing a cover letter to a dream job. And then I applied. And fingers crossed I get even an interview, but if I don't, I'm really proud of myself for putting the work in and getting my name out there. In the past, I would have been too insecure to even try. But now I'm confident in myself and my abilities, and if I don't get an interview, they really don't know what kind of gem they're missing. 💎🥰

Thanks so much for this, love!!!!! xo xo

[thestobingirlie]

okay so lol couple of days late but anyway with the whole dustin ask with eddie and etc. you’re sooo right!! dustin is a fan fav so the duffers just stick him with the newbies on the show so that the audience will like them better.

i agree that whole scene of ‘never change’ made me want to barf. eddie has only know dustin for a few months and he’s been snappy towards dustin as a whole but suddenly he’s going to say ‘never change’ to dustin when he has never even been shown to encourage dustin outside of this moment.

while the moment with dustin and wayne did make me emotional (mainly cuz of gaten’s acting) i too was just sooo confused why he didn’t go with the others to see max! like come on ! it feels like they just ignored how dustin and max were friends to just thrown in a scene of dustin being with an adult who he’s never talked too before in his life!

i love your version of season 4! it fits so well and yes i love that idea of dustin fighting them specifically because of that reason. which is also why i’m soo pissed about the eddie thing because it seems so glaring how they wanted to give dustin trauma meanwhile ignoring that he does have trauma!!! that’s a whole other rant so lol. but yeah dustin would heavily be feeling guilt despite it not being his fault.

dustin (and i guess gaten) really does just have good chemistry with most of the cast, so it does make sense that to get the audience bonded with new characters, to stick them with him. what it does though, is just slowly separate him from all his friends, stops him from really forming long-term bonds, and kind of destroys an ability to develop as a character.

that whole scene with eddie and dustin in the field was just so obviously shit to try and make the audience sad that i did not care about it at all. eddie literally did not give two shits about dustin a couple days ago, and i wouldn’t have an issue with eddie actually developing an interest in him after he’s the only thing connecting eddie to this new reality and his old life. but that didn’t really happen. we’re just supposed to buy that they’re super close now with no actual development.

oh god, the wayne scene got me, i’m not gonna lie (though at the same time it was kinda stupid because like… wtf do you mean eddie saved the town, it was a fucking earthquake dustin). and yeah! dustin just got separated from every single other member of the party for eddie (which again, what i said earlier, continuously putting dustin with the newer characters means his older friendships suffer).

thank you <3 the duffers should just hire me, i think i’d be able to write the story better.

but yeah, the duffers wanted to give gaten something to cry his little eyes out to, and it’s just like. dustin already has trauma. you didn’t have to make him watch some guy fucking bleed out. dustin literally KILLED a man last season. he electrocuted him to free robin and steve. was this brought up? NO. ugh, feeling the rage over all the trauma the duffers have forgotten about again.

[words-writ-in-starlight]

look I am sleepy and tired and I've got some school shit to attend to pre-enrollment tomorrow so HEY MORAN how would you write an AU where Steve Trevor ends up as the Winter Soldier figure. bc we need more of that trope always.

Okay so I’m real into Winter Soldier AUs where their identity is discovered in the WORST AVAILABLE WAY (well, all WS AUs tbh but like come on I like to see people break down), and also this morning @littlestartopaz suggested that the Waynes are basically the Starks but more humanitarian and less weapon designer (also please note that I generally adhere to Unpretty’s Batman personality because I like it).

So basically what I’m saying here is that Bruce, after the League has formed up and suffered a nasty battle that dredged up a lot of people’s old issues, returns to the unsolved case of his parents’ murder and mulls over the information .  He has done this for most of his life when things go awry, not so much because he expects to solve the crime anymore or even because he’s still as emotionally locked in that moment as he once was, but just…it’s his parents and he doesn’t know and if there’s one thing the Batman hates, it’s not knowing.  

This time he has actual people, though, and while Clark mostly goes home to Metropolis and his day job, Diana is formally speaking on leave from her day job and she knows who he is and he lets her stay in his mansion because she really loves his gardens.  (This is what clinches it for Diana–the Batman is a marshmallow under that layer of body armor.)  So she comes across this research and the two of them start poking around and they find a loose end that Bruce hasn’t seen before.  They start pulling on it and at first they think that it goes nowhere, that it dead ends in a conglomerate of the wealthy and ethically deficient that dissolved decades ago and took all their records with it.

Two days later, Dick Grayson (probably around seventeen now) hears a quiet beep when he opens his car door and it’s only the years of practice that let him throw himself back fast enough to escape most of the shrapnel.  Bruce shows up to the hospital where Dick is getting bandaged up (burns to his left forearm and lower leg, two cracked ribs, and a nasty bit of road rash on his right cheek and shoulder) like the wrath of God, and Diana is already on site, sifting through the debris for a clue.  This is a warning, plain and simple, targeting the eldest son–death of the firstborn, Dick says like it’s at all funny, aren’t there supposed to be some other plagues before that?–but a critical mistake has been made.  Bruce Wayne is rich and powerful and people know it, and feel threatened even by ‘eccentric playboy Brucie’ because, well, one time he found out someone was paying off a surveyor to build one of his buildings on a burial site, and he came down like the fist of an angry god.

Batman, defending his partner and adopted son, is going to rip these people to shreds.  

“Huh,” Diana says with interest, tapping her comm so that Bruce can hear her.  She’s picking over what’s left of the bomb itself, armored and disinterested in the police nervously milling about.  “I haven’t seen a weight trigger like this since I was in the trenches.”

The manhunt that gets underway is subtle, at first, Diana and Bruce operating from the shadows or with the mild interest of superheros who happen to be in the area, while Clark calls in a few favors to look into the names that Bruce and Diana were pulling at.  The rest of the League isn’t told, not yet, because Bruce is protective of his identity and even more so of his secrets and he’s still adjusting even just to Diana and Clark.  

Diana does a lot of the legwork. ��Clark has a secret identity to keep up and Bruce has an injured kid to duct tape to a bed (the entire Wayne household redefines ‘bad patient’ to levels that frankly amaze Diana even now) so Diana is mostly the one quietly talking to people, pushing for information, searching, seeking, hunting.  

It draws attention to her, because it looks like Bruce took the warning seriously while she did not.

It takes less than a month for someone to be sent to…deal with her.

Diana is just leaving the house of a woman whose dead husband’s brother’s boss might have had something to do with the whole mess–all of her leads have been like this, but Diana doesn’t mind because Bruce should see that people don’t always have darkness in their souls.  She’s willing to work with his kids and Clark on proving the point.  Also, she finds the concept of attacking children as horrific as she did a century ago at Veld, and Hades have mercy on anyone who did, because Diana certainly wouldn’t.  (Dick had protested that he’s almost an adult and besides��he’s been fighting crime since he was nine, and Tim sat on him.  Carefully.  With affection.)  So yeah, she’s fine with digging through people who are at two or three removes from the situation on the off chance that they might have information.  Also this particular woman makes lovely home-mixed tea with rosehips and lemon and honey, so there’s also that.

She’s not certain that she’s being followed until she turns into an alley and the figure drifts after her, and…he’s good, she almost missed him.  Diana admits it at once–never underestimate your opponent, Antiope’s voice whispers through the years–and twists on her heel to face him.  She believes he’s male, but he’s masked, hard plastic too pearly to be skin that covers his face from just below his eyes all the way down, hiding mouth and keeping his jaw closed like a muzzle.  His hair was buzzed short at some point, but it’s growing out, as if no one tends to it, and his eyes are as cold and empty as the clear sky at midwinter.

Diana feels a little sick.  She was ready to take him down, hard and fast, but the man following her looks more like a tormented hunting hound than anything else.  Like he’s forgotten what it’s like to be treated as human.

“Why are you following me?” she asks, holding a hand out, palm down, as if gentling a nervous horse.  “Can you tell me who sent you?”

He raises a gun and shoots twice without so much as batting an eye.  Diana barely gets her bracers up in time, and then the alley is a melee battle, gun and blind determination against lasso and lifelong training.

Obviously, Diana wins, and the gun clatters away, followed by not one but three knives and a second small gun.  Her opponent carries more weapons on him than Bruce does, which is no small feat, and finally she tackles him outright, bracing one knee on his left wrist and catching his right in her hand as she uses all her strength to deny his attempts to throw her off, already demanding answers.

“I said,” she snarls, hooking her nails under the mask and ripping it away, “who sent–”  Her words strangle on her tongue as the mask drops from nerveless fingers.  “Oh Hades,” she breathes, and reaches out, hand trembling.  “Steve?”

He takes the moment of weakness to slam his head into her nose, and she rocks back as he rolls away.  She lashes out on instinct with her lasso, catches his ankle and yanks him back down onto the asphalt.

“Steve,” she says again, getting a better look at his face this time.

He bares his teeth at her, as if threatening to tear her throat out if that’s what it takes.  “Who the hell is Steve?”

[greatunironic]

considering eddie’s band is as big as it is and the fact he wrote a song abt chrissy and is dating steve so you think anyone from hawkins has put together that ed levy is eddie munson?

so in “all the missing girls”, i posited that they solve the vecna murders + hopper returning from the dead with a serial killer storyline, with eddie having been a witness/kidnap victim of the killer. in “remarkable”, i think a similar thing happens.

there are some changes for remarkable tho: eddie is very badly injured when he gets whisked away and is in a hospital for something like a month before he gets released, which is when he gets moved to the ‘burgh with wayne. the shady government folks covering up the lab bullshit put out a statement to the effect of the above (serial killer, eddie got kidnapped, hopper’s a hero who killed the serial killer, etc etc) — and the people in hawkins, used to a bunch of bullroar by now, grumble but accept it.

the shady government folks give eddie a new last name when they relocate, just because there are some people who still don’t quite believe it but also because it helps the cover story — he was a victim, there may have been a partner, all that crap. (jason def gets implicated as an accomplice but it’s one of those never proven things since he’s missing but presumed dead after ye old hawkins earthquake.)

when eddie starts getting truly famous (first grammy nom with METALHEAD), he usually implies that he’s from pittsburgh (though he never outright says it) and it’s genuinely several years into his career that anyone actually puts the dots together. also his government handlers (who naturally despair of him) are like okay let’s make sure we have a perfect cover story for when this ultimately blows up in our faces down the line. and by this time lucas has already told his parents eddie went into witsec so they just roll with that — they say he’s no longer in danger, he’s free to do whatever, go forth and make music. but like don’t totally out us on the news about the alternate dimension stuff, they say; eddie’s like “imma make a weird album about it and people will think i’m an artistic genius, don’t worry, no one thinks it’s real.”

meanwhile, “chrissy’s song” has the inadvertent consequence of buying him a ton of goodwill from chrissy’s high school best friends; he quietly reaches out to them in the early 90s and starts a scholarship in her name that helps lgbtqia identifying kids get out of bad situations. he prefers to be a silent partner in this, and, again, it’s not until later (i’m thinking around the “when suffering grows a garden” article — so fully 2001) that people actually realize that ed levy is eddie munson, the escaped last victim of the indiana reaper.

also while he does discuss steve in interviews, he typically doesn’t mention his last name; some people back in hawkins think it’s the harrington kid but steve’s private and so is eddie in a lot of respects — by the time they’re together they both don’t go out a lot and prefer to be homebodies. also steve changes his last name after he and eddie have officially been dating for two years, which throws people too.

(there’s a buzz feed unsolved about hawkins in the mid 10s; eddie gets interviewed and gives the performance of his LIFE convincing the world nothing weird at all was going on, it was just a serial killer. dustin has a fake emmy made for him; eddie keeps it above the toilet in the en suite bathroom of his and steve’s seattle summer house.)

[thejuleselliot]

the Flaws of ‘Wonder Woman: 1984′

Fair warning: I’m gonna go longform on this one. If you want to read an essay dissecting the failures of this movie, read on. If not...

...

I wanted it to be great.

After suffering various delays over the years, I was as excited as anyone else to see it. Unfortunately, when I eventually did, I was disappointed.

The film’s many problems essentially boil down to only one: it can’t pick a side. Steve Trevor is Diana’s soulmate, or he isn’t. Barbara Minerva is Diana’s friend, or she isn’t. And, most glaringly, Maxwell Lord is either a good guy... or he just isn’t. The filmmakers themselves don’t seem to know, but they expect you, the audience, to. None of this is played out skillfully, or with a hint of nuance.

It could be argued that the majority of 1984′s problems lie with Lord. While almost every commercial or promotion for the film portrayed Wiig’s Cheetah as the film’s villain, it’s obvious upon first viewing that Pascal has spades more screen time. But the fact is, Lord is never given enough opportunity to become a menacing villain because the film never bothers to take the time to paint an accurate portrait. The first time he’s really introduced to the audience is through the eyes of Wiig’s Barbara Minerva. The meeting is awkward, even cringe-worthy. You’re meant to find him charming, yet you don’t. This is an absolute failing within the script.

When creating a villain, a screenwriter needs to make a choice: the monster you fear, or the monster you love. In the Dark Knight, Heath Ledger’s Joker inevitably fits into the former category. Through the film, he not only murders Bruce Wayne’s girlfriend, he is shown to be completely unhinged on several occasions. The audience never questions for a minute that he will do anything and everything to create havoc in Gotham City. So, here, we not only have a defined personality, we have a motive.

For the latter, let’s look to Tom Hiddleston’s Loki in the first Avengers film. Loki is the charmer. Intense, but beguiling. The characters - and, by extension, the audience - is drawn in. Therefore, when he does do evil, it catches you off-guard. When he shouts, you listen.

The character of Maxwell Lord never gives you that chance. He’s been compared to the 80′s personality of Donald Trump, which is a apt description. The one issue of this, however, is that Jenkins chooses to give Lord a different dimension - that of a caring father. She can’t seem to commit to one side of the character. Is he a monster, or isn’t he? By the finale, you’re expected to believe that by reversing his actions, he’s proven what side of morality he’s on. However, without defining the limits of that morality early on, the audience lacks a personal connection to the character. A better version of the script would have eliminated the son entirely and committed entirely to a Trumpian parody, or eliminated the Trump-ishness and depicted a struggling, good-hearted businessman who allows power to corrupt him and ultimately chooses the right side in the end. Without defining clearer character boundaries, the audience is never given a chance to care what he does next.

Cheetah belies another narrative issue entirely. While Lord is complicated to the point of confusion, the script can’t seem to discern a motive for self-styled superhero Barbara Minerva. Her own introduction shows her being stepped over (literally) by coworkers at Diana’s work, the Smithsonian museum. Her supervisor can’t remember her name. Sounds bad, right?

However. It’s worth noting that we quickly learn that Barbara has started there only one week earlier. Yes, it’s pretty rude to be ignored or forgotten by your coworkers. But it’s not as if she has known them for years and still been treated this way. I wouldn’t expect a coworker or superior to have my name locked-in on week one. Barbara has started a new job, and the film never bothers to tell us what her old job was or where she's been since college. (We also learn, most upsettingly, that she has a series of impressive degrees - something we are merely told, not shown. With the exception of one scene in which she researches for Diana, she’s completely terrible at her job, and Diana constantly steps in to do it for her.) We’re meant to believe that it was simply fate that brought her to Diana, and to the path she is set on.

Quickly, Barbara proves herself to be a kind, if vaguely frenetic soul. That alone is enough potential for a lovable, Luna Lovegood-type character. However, by consistently ensuring that she is the most obnoxious person in the room, it’s difficult to gain audience sympathy. Early on, she’s attacked by a man while walking home, before quickly being saved by Diana. This kindness is forgotten, once she has successfully made Diana the villain in her mind.

Strangely, the film never really tells us why she goes after Diana so viciously. Outside of a power struggle, one from which Diana has nothing to gain, they have no disagreements, with exception of Diana’s generic, disinterested distrust in Barbara’s quickly-discarded love interest, Maxwell Lord. The Lord/Minerva subplot never really goes anywhere, burning brightly in snippets of the film’s first thirty minutes and largely disappearing for the next two hours. Jenkins decides not to treat Barbara as a woman manipulated, instead making her in charge of her own actions.

There would be merit in this, if it didn’t remove any or all motivation from Minerva’s story. Later in, Barbara seethes and makes several inane statements about being ‘special’ like Diana (during a battle, no less) and the film clumsily tries to assign this as her character motivation. At the end of the film, Barbara is electrically shocked in a way that would kill most people. The last shot shows her sitting on what appears to be a cliff, looking out at almost-Wakandan sunset, boldly copying one of Black Panther’s iconic final shots.

Another issue with Barbara stands with the film’s issues with character perspective. In the first film, almost every scene, with the exception of those with the villains, takes place from Diana’s point of view. This doesn’t work as well when employed in WW84. For one, unlike the first, the film is unable to choose a perspective. The first major scene set in the 80′s takes place in the eyes of a group of thieves who are never seen or heard from again. (We assume Lord hired them... this is never clearly stated?)

By doing this, the film suffers. Sometimes it chooses to focus on Diana’s rich and grieving state, still deeply affected from the loss of Steve Trevor. And when it does, it expects you to care. However, by choosing to focus almost equally on the emotional state of Lord and Minerva, it takes valuable screen time away from the woman with her name in the title. And all that time spent sympathizing with the villains is left wasted when the viewer struggles to find a reason to love them, and the film never tells you why.

The character assassination of Steve Trevor is its own failing. By removing him from his time, he is removed completely from his own motivations. He exists only to be a kind of spiritual guardian to Diana. He had not been brought to life by the film’s MacGuffin, it would have made little difference to his overall effect. Steve and Diana get a few moments, but they’re clumsily written and badly paced. By the end, Steve and Diana do part, and you’re left wondering why the script bothered to bring him back in the first place.

Then, Diana herself. The film opens with a woefully, painfully dull Olympic-style obstacle course, showing a eight-year-old Diana attempt to win. While doing so, she cheats, which causes her to be held back by her aunt, Antiope (R.I.P.). You hope this disappointing sequence will lead to a satisfying conclusion later on, but the only thing I could garner is that they were attempting to make a clumsy comparison to Diana’s eventual choice to leave Steve Trevor behind. (A bit of a reach. I know...)

Diana never gets much of an opportunity to be herself in this film. She performs several rescues, the first of which involves a long, intense eye-contact filled scene with a little girl.

(Who, in case you were wondering, does not come back or prove to be important later. A more discerning screenwriter would’ve had this child be Maxwell’s son, but... I digress.)

(There’s another grievance, there, and I’m going to take the opportunity to air it: this overstuffed, yet completely airheaded film takes time to tell us the backstory of a great Amazonian warrior. Do we ever meet this warrior? No.

No, we don’t - unless you count a post-credits scene where she is portrayed by Lynda Carter, who for some reason, could not be bothered to help Diana out when all of this mayhem was afoot. The part of this that annoys me most of all is that the entire backstory is created simply for the sake of justifying Diana’s new, golden eagle-wing armor, which could have otherwise been explained with four little words: ‘I took up metalworking.’”)

In conclusion...

agh.

[ljones41]

“WONDER WOMAN” (2017) Review

"WONDER WOMAN" (2017) Review Since the release of "MAN OF STEEL" back in 2013, the D.C. Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise has been in a conundrum. Although the 2013 film and with the two movies that followed - "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE"and "SUICIDE SQUAD" - were all box office hits, they had been heavily condemned by many film critics. Then along came "WONDER WOMAN", the first superhero movie that featured a woman in the lead since 2005. Directed by Patty Jenkins, "WONDER WOMAN" is basically a flashback on the origins of Princess Diana of Thymerica aka Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman. Some time after the events of "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE", Diana received a package at her Antiquities Curator office at the Louvre Museum. It came from Bruce Wayne aka Batman and it contained the original photographic plate of her, Steve Trevor and their comrades during World War I:

The photographic plate led Diana to recall her past, starting with her childhood on Thymerica Island. While being raised by her mother, the Amazonian Queen Hippolyta, Diana learns about Zeus' creation of mankind and his son Ares' jealousy of his father's creation and the latter's attempts to destroy humans. After the other Mount Olympus gods were killed by Ares, because of their attempts to stop him, Zeus created a weapon for the Amazonians, a "Godkiller", in case Ares decides to return. Although Queen Hippolyta has no trouble telling Diana about Zeus, Ares and the other Mount Olympus gods; she forbids her sister and military leader of the Amazons, Antiope, to train Diana. Eventually she relents and demands that Antiope train Diana harder than the other Amazons. During the last year of World War I, Diana rescues an American military pilot named Captain Steve Trevor, after his plane crashes off Themyscira's coast. The island is soon invaded by German sailors from a cruiser, pursuing Trevor. The Amazons engage and kill all of the German sailors, but Antiope sacrifices herself to save Diana. Interrogated with the Lasso of Hestia, Trevor informs the Amazons about World War I, his position as an Allied spy and his mission to deliver a notebook he had stolen from the Spanish-born chief chemist for the German Army, Dr. Isabel Maru. The latter is attempting to engineer a deadlier form of mustard gas for General Erich Ludendorff at a weapons facility in the Ottoman Empire. Against her mother's wishes, Diana decides to help Steve's war efforts by leaving Themyscira and accompanying him to London. Recalling Hippolyta's tales about Ares, she believes the latter is responsible for the war and hopes to kill him with the help of the Lasso of Hestia and the "Godkiller" sword that Zeus had left behind. As I had earlier pointed out, "WONDER WOMAN" received a great deal of critical acclaim. In fact, it proved to be the first film in the DCEU franchise to do so, leading many to regard it as better than its three predecessors. Do I feel the same about the movie? Not quite. Do not get me wrong, "WONDER WOMAN" struck me as a first-rate movie that I found very entertaining. As a woman, I found it personally satisfying that it proved to the first successful comic book heroine film. More importantly, it was also the first comic but the first to be directed by a woman. In the end, "WONDER WOMAN" became one of my top favorite movies from the summer of 2017. Many people were surprised that most of the film - namely the flashback - was set during the last month of World War I, especially since Wonder Woman's origin began during World War II. It could be that Warner Brothers wanted to avoid any comparisons with Marvel's Captain America, whose origin began around the same time. I am glad that the movie was mainly set during World War. One, I feel that it would have been compared to Marvel's 2011 film, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER". But more importantly, the World War I setting meshed better with the film's portrayal of one of the villains, Erich Ludendorff. And without the World War I setting, I would have never experienced one of the best action sequences I had seen this summer - Wonder Woman's foray into "No Man's Land", as seen in the images below:

Thinking about the No Man's Land" sequence reminded me of other action scenes in the movie that I found satisfying. Those scenes include a montage of Diana's training as a warrior, the Amazons' defense of Thymerica against invading German sailors, Diana and Steve's encounter with a group of German spies in a London alley. The "No Man's Land" sequence eventually led to another fight in which Diana, Steve and their companions led a liberation of the Belgian town Veld, which had been occupied by the Germans. You know what? It is possible that I may have enjoyed this sequence even more than the charge across "No Man's Land". One, it lasted longer. And the sequence featured more of a team effort between Diana, Steve, their three companions and troops from the Allied Powers. In fact, one scene featured Steve remembering an Amazonian tactic from the Thymerica battle and utilizing it with Diana in Veld. I literally smiled at that moment. But "WONDER WOMAN" was not all about action scenes. Personally, I regard the movie as a character study of its lead character. Ever since Diana had informed Bruce Wayne that she had walked away from mankind for nearly a century in "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE", I have always wondered what led her to become that slightly cynical woman. For me, "WONDER WOMAN" told that story . . . to a certain extent, thanks to Allan Heinberg's screenplay. The Princess Diana aka Diana Prince that we see in this film is an intelligent woman with a fierce sense of justice and duty. Whereas her mother and other fellow Amazons want to isolate themselves from humanity and the rest of the world at large, Diana views Steve's arrival and his revelation about the war being raged to save humanity from what she believed was Ares' destructive influence. Diana is also portrayed as a compassionate woman incapable of turning a blind eye to the devastating effects of war upon the Belgian civilian population and servicemen like Charlie, a Scottish sharpshooter and ally of Steve's, who suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PSTD). She also possessed enough compassion to become aware of the discrimination that Steve's other two friends faced - the Blackfoot warrior and smuggler Chief Napi and the French Moroccan secret agent, Sameer. But Diana's belief in Ares' role in the Great War also revealed some negative aspects of her personality. One aspect of Diana's personality in this film was her naivety. There were scenes in which her naivety about the "world of man" that I found humorous - namely her shopping trip with Steve's assistant, Etta Camp; her introduction to ice cream; and her discussions with Steve about human sexuality. But there were plenty of times when I found her naivety very frustrating - especially in those scenes in which Steve tries to explain the true ambiguous nature of human beings and the war. A good example was Diana's interruption of the Allied Powers' high command and her attempt to instruct the generals on how to "run a war". Many found this scene as an example of Diana's feminine empowerment. I found it as an example of her naivety and a bit of arrogance on her part. In these scenes, Diana seemed to display a stubborn, almost hard-headed and blind reluctance to let go of her misguided beliefs. Because of this unwillingness to believe she might be wrong about matters, Diana killed one of the characters believing him to be Ares without any real proof. I found this moment rather frightening. This hard-headed trait revealed what I believe was one example of Diana's penchant for extreme behavior. Diana's angry and frightening reaction to Steve's sacrifice was another example. And the hard lessons she had learned about humanity, along with personal tragedy, led to her almost century long foray into emotional isolation. In many ways, Diana's journey is that if an idealist, whose positive assumptions had been ripped away in the most painful manner. While watching "WONDER WOMAN", it seemed obvious to me that Patty Jenkins is more than a competent director. She is obviously first-rate. Mind you, I do not believe that she possesses Zack Snyder's razor-sharp eye for imagery. And yet, judging from the sequences of the Thymerica battle, Diana and Steve's arrival in London; along with the outstanding "No Man's Land" sequence, it seems obvious to me that Jenkins has a solid grasp of imagery and is capable of being a visually original director. It helped that cinematographer Matthew Jensen and film editor Martin Walsh contributed to Jenkins' visual presentation of "WONDER WOMAN". I would not consider the costume designs from "WONDER WOMAN" to be among the best of Lindy Hemming's career and a costume designer. But I thought she did an excellent job in designing the Greco-style costumes for the Amazons - including Diana's Wonder Woman costume. And I found her re-creation of the 1918 wartime costumes for the characters of both genders well done:

Although I believe there is a great deal to admire about "WONDER WOMAN", I do have a few complaints. One of them happened to be Jenkins' use of slow-motion filming in many of the film's action sequences. Yes, I realize that Jenkins was not the first director to use this form of filming action scenes. Her fellow DCEU director, Zack Snyder, was notorious for his use of this technique - especially in his pre-DCEU films. Unfortunately, I found myself getting tired of the slow-motion technique not long after ten to fifteen minutes into the film. I mean . . . good grief! Jenkins not only used it in the film's every action sequence, but also in one scene that featuring one of the Amazons' combat training sessions. I just got tired of it . . . really fast. My second problem with the film centered around the final action scene between Wonder Woman and Ares. I had no problems with Ares' revelation about his identity. And I certainly had no problems with his revelations about the true nature of humanity and the war itself. And I found Wonder Woman's reactions to his revelations and Steve Trevor's sacrifice rather interesting. But why . . . why in God's name did Jenkins and Heinberg find it necessary to have Diana say the following line to Ares before their final duel? "It's about what you believe. And I believe in love. Only love will truly save the world." While the sentiment is lovely, it contradicted Diana's cynical attitude and words to Bruce Wayne, following Clark Kent's death in "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE": "A hundred years ago I walked away from mankind; from a century of horrors... Men made a world where standing together is impossible." Now, one could say that Diana had acquired this attitude during the 97 years between her showdown with Ares and the incident with Doomsday. But she made it clear to Bruce that she had walked away "a hundred years", which is roughly between the end of World War I and “BATMAN V. SUPERMAN”, save three years. Why did Jenkins and Heinberg allow her to spout that line about how love with save the world? Was this some emotional sop to those critics and moviegoers who wanted to pretend that Diana had managed to avoid wallowing in her grief over Steve and disappointment over Ares' revelation? If so, that is bad writing . . . or bad timing. Jenkins and Heinberg could have saved the line for Diana's narration at the end of the movie. After she had received the photographic plate and Steve's watch from Bruce . . . and after she had finally lifted herself from her cynicism and detached air. I certainly had no complaints about the movie's performances. Mind you, there were two performances that failed to knock my socks off. One came from veteran actor Danny Huston, who found himself saddled with the clichéd riddled character of General Erich Ludendorff. Huston did not give a bad performance. Being a first-rate actor, he did the best that he could with the material given to him. But the screenwriter's portrayal of the character reeked with the Hollywood cliché of an aggressive German military officer, straight from the "Ve haf vays of making you talk" school of screenwriting. And I believe this may have hampered Huston's performance. I also had a slight problem with Eugene Brave Rock, who portrayed one of Steve Trevor's allies, Chief Napi. Rock was not a bad actor and I found him very likeable. But it was easy for me to see that he was not exactly the most experienced actor. And I was not surprised to discover that he had spent most of his film career as a stuntman and stunt trainer. When Ewan Bremner first appeared in the film, I suspected that he had been cast to portray another one of the many comic roles he has portrayed in the past. However, his character Charlie proved to be another kettle of fish. Thanks to Bremner's skillful performance, Charlie proved to be a tragic figure whose peace of mind had been ravaged by the violence of war. Elena Anaya, whom I have never heard of before this film, gave an intelligent and intense performance asIsabel Maru aka Doctor Poison, the Spanish-born chemist recruited to create chemical weapons for the German Army and specifically, for General Ludendorff. Unlike the latter, Dr. Maru is a villainess straight from the pages of the D.C. Comics titles for Wonder Woman. And yet, thanks to Anaya's performance, she was not portrayed in a ham-fisted manner. But I must admit that I adored Saïd Taghmaoui's portrayal of French Moroccan secret agent, Sameer. I found his performance charming, witty and very intelligent. And in my view, he had the best line in the movie (about Diana, of course): "I am both frightened... and aroused." Connie Nielsen's portrayal of Diana's mother, Queen Hippolyta of Thymerica proved to be more interesting that I had assumed it would be. Frankly, I thought Queen Hippolyta would be a somewhat bland parent figure, who was simply protective of her only daughter. In the end, Hippolyta's protectiveness toward her daughter proved to have a major impact upon the latter. This same protectiveness, along with her world-weary response to Diana's decision to leave Thymerica revealed the true, ambiguous nature of the character and Nielsen did an excellent job in conveying it. Robin Wright had an easier time in her portrayal of Diana's aunt, Antiope. The actress not only did a great job, I was especially impressed at how she embraced the more physical aspects of the role. After all, Antiope was the Amazonian army's lead general. I was very surprised to learn that the actress who portrayed Etta Candy, Steve Trevor's assistant, was none other than Lucy Davis, who had a supporting role in the 1995 miniseries, "PRIDE AND PREJUDICE". Personally, I adored her portrayal of Etta. Like Taghmaoui, she was a walking embodiment of charm and wit. I especially enjoyed Davis' performance in the scene that featured Diana and Etta's shopping trip. David Thewlis gave a superficially pleasant performance as the dignified Sir Patrick Morgan, a diplomatic liaison with the Imperial War Cabinet. I found him intelligent, subtle and a little tricky. I have a confession to make. I have always liked Gal Gadot as a screen presence. Honestly. She has a very strong presence. But I have never considered her as a top-notch actress . . . until recent years. But I must admit that her portrayal of Princess Diana of Thymerica aka Diana Prince aka Wonder Woman really knocked my socks off. I was impressed at how Gadot managed to portray Diana during two distinctive phases in her life - the naive, yet stubborn young woman who seemed convinced that she knows what is best for the world in this film; and the cynical and weary woman who is somewhat contemptuous of the world in "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE". And she did such a marvelous job in conveying this two phases in Diana's life . . . in two different films. Ms. Gadot has come a long way. I think Steve Trevor might one of my favorite roles portrayed by Chris Pine. Aside from the fact that he has great chemistry with Gadot, Pine gave a very entertaining portrayal of the American intelligence officer who first befriends Diana and later, falls in love with her. I found it fascinating to watch Pine convey Steve's intelligence, cunning and wry sense of humor. I also found it fascinating to watch how Pine conveyed Steve's struggles with Diana's naivety, stubborness and impulsive behavior. And he did so with a great deal of skill. "WONDER WOMAN" is the fourth film released through the D.C. Comics Extended Universe (DCEU). And like the other three, I found myself not only enjoying it very much, but also impressed by it. Aside from a few flaws, I thought director Patty Jenkins and screenwriter Allan Heinberg did a first-rate job in telling movie audiences the story of how Princess Diana of Thymerica became Wonder Woman . . . and how she also became that world weary woman from 2016's "BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE". And she did so with a first-rate movie crew and a wonderful cast led by Gal Gadot.

[azuresquirrel]

Now this post is for some more spoilerly points. Now this is NOT meant to be comprehensive. There are so many details in this movie that I plan to see several more times, and I’m not going into every detail here. Just some things I wanted to highlight for my initial viewing.

SOME SPACE HERE FOR MOBILE PEOPLE

Okay, just going to make some bullet points:

-Yeah yeah yeah, everything’s a fucking “cinematic universe” nowadays. But yes, that opener and ender were only there because of “DC MOVIES TRYING TO BE MARVEL.” I’ll say this: they’re both very short and perfunctory (I clearly got the impression that Jenkins did the bare minimum to fulfill the contractual obligation of “NEEDS BATMAN” and I respect her for that). I was also much softer on the ending given that it plays on the watch. STILL I must say THAT OPENING SCENE WAS SO VERY UNNECESSARY. Start on Themiscrya. Start with Diana telling US her story. I was so very cross that we had a fucking car saying “WAYNE ENTERPRISES” on it before we saw Diana’s FACE.

-I know that this is not this movie’s fault - it is HOLLYWOOD’S stupid trends fault but still. I am so very over COLOR = BAD, BROWN AND GRAY = REALISTIC AND GOOD that has infected most all mainstream movies nowadays.

-At least THEMISCRYA ITSELF LOOKED BEAUTIFUL AND COLORFUL.

-I mean yes there was A LOT of movie and A LOT of story to go through. But. We still did not spend enough time on Themiscrya. I could’ve spent hours in Themiscrya.

-It was profoundly affecting to see so many scenes with NOT A SINGLE MAN ON SCREEN. ALL WOMEN. This shouldn’t have affected me so deeply. People don’t fucking blink all the time when there’s so many men onscreen and not a single woman. It’s 2017 why is this still a fucking issue?

-I’m not going to delve deep into this movie and race (IT’S NOT GOOD). I will just say that it was nice to have women of many races on Themiscrya. But yeah, in terms of importance it is a very very white movie.

-I didn’t hate the daughter-of-Zeus thing as much as I thought I would. It was still unnecessary though. They could have written it differently (like . . . why do the Amazonians care about ZEUS anyway? The Greek pantheon is not lacking in goddesses they could have used instead).

-I don’t care about this movie making its own shit up re: the Greek gods and myths because 1. COMICS and 2. that’s what American media has done for decades. IT’S JUST A BOX OF LEGOS AT THIS POINT. Honestly props for having Ares be the villain for fucking once instead of Hades.

-Speaking of, I like that the “twists” of the movie . . . weren’t really. They aren’t twists, they’re blatantly obvious. They are revelations to DIANA (because she doesn’t know she’s in a movie) and they’re important for how they affect HER and her arc and understanding, and not for pulling one over on the audience. I LIKE THAT A LOT.

-In fact I loved how fucking obvious the “god-weapon” thing was. One of the things that annoyed me about the trailer (and god what a bad fucking trailer it was) was all the focus on the damn sword. Over the LASSO and the GAUNTLETS. Yes Diana can fight with anything because she’s fucking Wonder Woman but a sword is not her symbol. So when it was immediately apparent that the sword was a total red herring and that the weapon was Diana herself I was pretty damn happy.

-The “humorous” woman-meeting-Man’s-World stuff was very hit or miss. I did enjoy the blatant subversion of the “born sexy yesterday” trope (Diana: yes I know all about what sex is and men are not effective for pleasure, lol). But yeah you can bet that my eyes rolled out of my head at the whole “what is that thing” “. . . oh it’s a WATCH lol” like come the fuck on, people.

-That being said, kudos to Steve Trevor for being the only naked person in this movie.

-Also that being said, I of course had reservations about the token heterosexuality but . . . actually it didn’t turn out to be an annoying token. I didn’t care going into this movie about them “doing right” by Steve Trevor, but ultimately everything combined to make him WORTHY of Diana. He is a hero who earns being a hero and he never overshadows Diana or takes over her movie in doing so. Also his actual heroic sacrifice was 100% earned and actually emotional. SO GOOD JOB MOVIE, YOU MADE ME CARE ABOUT A MALE LOVE INTEREST. THAT’S AN ACCOMPLISHMENT.

-Also thank fuck the movie isn’t strangled by the red string. Yeah Diana and Steve’s romance is there and happens but takes up very little of the screentime, god bless.

-THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH ETTA CANDY IN THIS MOVIE.

-I’ll say this regarding the female villain: I loved her mask and I loved the name DR. POISON because both were so gloriously comic book-y.

-Also Steve’s almost successful attempt to play the fucking honeypot scheme on her. YOU GO STEVE TREVOR, STRONG MALE CHARACTER.

-Also fucking kudos to David Thewlis for walking onscreen and being so Obviously Evil that again, the twist was a total non-twist.

-Diana in her gorgeous “normal woman” outfit and glasses, carrying the sword and shield: ICONIC and A LOOK.

-Also whoops I missed it, but Steve waking up after being rescued from a watery grave, looking up at Diana’s glorious face and saying “wow.” HARD SAME, BUDDY.

-EVERY FIGHT SCENE. WAS SO GOOD.

-I suppose some people may dislike the slo-mo because it’s such a Synder thing now but I LOVED IT.

-EVERY SINGLE FIGHT SCENE THOUGH.

-Okay but that moment in the Amazons-and-Germans fight when Antiope does the jumping off the shield bit and shoots THREE SOLDIERS AT ONCE. HAWKEYE AIN’T GOT SHIT ON THAT.

-Also DIANA FIGHTS WITH HER SHIELD AND GAUNTLETS AND THE LASSO AS MUCH, IF NOT MORE, THAN THE SWORD, GOD BLESS.

-No Man’s Land. Iconic. 

-The climatic fight felt like a comic book in the best way. It really felt like two Gods clashing and I lived for it.

-One of the most profoundly affecting things about this movie is how every moment of suffering that Diana witnesses affects her and she tries to do everything she can about it and says that something MUST be done to stop it. In so many superhero movies, action movies, heck just MOVIES, suffering is shown and reveled in without any sense of sympathy or empathy, it’s used cheaply. But here is AFFECTS Diana and it doesn’t make her weak - it’s her STRENGTH. To see suffering and injustice and to say NO, THIS IS WRONG.

-I’m sure that . . . moment with Dr. Poison is going to be real fucking controversial (you know what I mean). Just *hoooof*. I’m not going to pass moral judgement on that personally, as I think there are many others who have a far greater right than I to do so. THIS IS WHAT I MEAN ABOUT BEING UNETHICAL IN THE WWII SETTING. Like . . . god it’s not trying to say “don’t hurt N@zis” (I mean otherwise the lack of “if you kill evildoer then you are ~just as bad as them~ was refreshing. Hell, Diana calls a man dishonorable for not looking the people he kills in the face, and there’s no sense of her being “compromised” for her killing many people in battle). It’s TRYING to be about her rejecting Ares’s “humans are just shit so we should destroy them all” view . . . but HOOOOOOOF. That’s . . . yeah, that’s going to be A Thing.

-(eta: I was going to change the last point given that THIS MOVIE IS SET IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND NOT THE SECOND, as I had assumed. But . . . man you really cannot shake that this is a villain who uses POISON GAS ON PEOPLE and is WORKING FOR THE GERMANS. Even changing it to pre-WWII that is still . . . YEAH, MY POINT STILL STANDS SO IT REMAINS)

-But really overall - thank you Patty Jenkins for understanding what I want from a movie generally.

-Gal Godot is a STAR and I cannot imagine anyone else playing Diana now.

-They never use the name “Wonder Woman” in the movie but they didn’t have to. Because everything about her onscreen inspires WONDER. What she says, what she does, how she looks. She is an inspiration and a hero. God.

-This is still the single best superhero movie that I have ever seen, warts and all. I expect to stand by that.

[movietvtechgeeks]

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Wonder Woman Spoiler Review and Villain Problem

First off, the nerd kingdom is still surprised at how good the DC-produced Wonder Woman is, and we congratulate director Patty Jenkins, Gal Gadot and Chris Pine for delivering a great film. It’s just fitting that Wonder Woman’s first theatrical outing be a great thing. We can probably say that the Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman film is DC’s counterpart to Christopher Reeve’s Superman. The film is reported to have set another record for the lowest Friday to Friday loss percentage for a Superhero film and has beaten Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella’s The Mummy and may have eaten into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s worldwide earnings pie as well. This continues as internet hype, and word of mouth continues to spread. By now, most of you have watched the film at least once so we can now proceed to spoilers and what we think made the film so great and those little flaws that need to be ironed out. One of those little flaws involves Wonder Woman joining the ranks of Marvel Cinematic Universe films in terms of villainy. Still spoiler alert for those who have yet to watch the film. Please do whether or not you’re a comic book fan. Personally, I have not read a single issue of DC’s Wonder Woman, but I have been exposed to other media, mainly on TV beginning with Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman, then the Superfriends cartoons, the 90s Justice League and other DC Animated Universe films. The film borrows some elements to her animated film by the way. First off, this is not your typical DCEU film. The sun exists in this movie. Patty Jenkins is not afraid filming in the sunlight because she probably won’t sparkle like Zack Snyder does (we know he’s having a hard time, so this ends here). The film begins by immediately telling us that this is DCEU connected by showing us a Wayne Security van bringing a package to Diana Prince. Sorry, no guys from Powerless are shown here, but that was the first thought that came to mind upon seeing the van. Well, still dreary skies over the Louvre but Diana takes the audience back to Themyscira upon seeing her World War I picture last seen in Batman V Superman. This is where we finally get to see sunlight in the DCEU. Yes. It’s a big thing. With the sun comes colors and Themyscira is the paradise that it’s supposed to be. We first see Diana as a child kept by her mother Queen Hippolyta from training with the other Amazons. But from the beginning, we see that Diana already has a passion for fighting and is seen by her aunt, General Antiope. Against Hippolyta’s wishes, Antiope trains Diana. From here, there’s also a mystery of Diana’s true nature which is the reason she’s forbidden to train. The release of Diana’s fighting spirit would make her easier to track and would expose Themyscira to the outside world. Once discovered, Hippolyta tells Antiope to train Diana as hard as she could in order to prepare her for her destiny. During a training session, Antiope trains her so hard that something is triggered in Diana that releases a burst of energy that may or may not have affected the protective field around Themyscira and allows a plane, piloted by US spy Steve Trevor into crashing near the island’s shores. Diana rescues him but he is soon followed by German mariners, and a battle ensues. Due to the animated features, one would think that Amazonians are more powerful than they look but when thrust into battle with German guns, they’re just as vulnerable as normal beings and here, the Amazons, as well as the audience, are shown the realities of war and death. You’d think that these Amazons have not dealt with death for thousands of years as they’re immortal except for mortal wounds. The Germans are wiped out at the cost of several Amazons including Antiope which adds to the drama. But the action here from the training to the fighting is pretty intense and well-choreographed. Many of the Amazon fighters cast female athletes by the way. So it’s evident that the film doesn’t start slow. The action is spread out quite well. The second chapter reveals the circumstances of Steve Trevor’s arrival. Steve is a US spy in German territory who discovers the Germans’ ultimate weapon and steals its notes but is pursued by German forces. The flashback to that has its own action sequence for Steve as he escapes in a plane and delays the Germans efforts by bombing the chemical weapons factory before escaping. Steve describes to the Amazons that the war occurring in the outside world is the war to end all wars. This makes Diana obsessed that the God of War Ares is behind all of it. Growing up, Hippolyta told Diana stories about the world of men, that the world was a beautiful and peaceful place until Ares gave men their hostile nature and that after his defeat Ares will someday return and that it will be up to the Amazons to stop him. Why World War I? Let’s stop here for a minute about World War I. Like Captain America, Wonder Woman’s origins are tied to World War II. But in this film, DC took a different approach. World War II is basically done to death but there aren’t many films that depict World War I. World War II is also associated with Nazis, and that gives any film about that war a definite villain. The film’s aim is to show a little ambiguity. No Nazis, no Hitler, no Holocaust, just the horrors that come with it. Diana’s Quest Diana’s convinced that Ares has to be stopped and makes it her quest to do so. Against her mother’s wishes, she volunteers to help Steve back to men’s world on the condition that he take her to the war and to Ares. She’s convinced that the war will end after taking out Ares. Diana steals the Godkiller sword which is said was made to kill Ares. In doing so, she discovers that she is somehow stronger and invulnerable than the others. She takes a shield, and the magic lasso used to make Steve divulge his mission. Steve and Diana are met by Hippolyta at the coast. Instead of stopping her, Hippolyta gives her blessing to the mission accepting that the whole thing is destiny. Wonder Woman’s origin differs here as she didn’t enter into a contest to prove who should be worthy to be Themyscira’s representative and receive the bracelets, the bodice, and lasso. That would make her fellow Amazons equal to her. In the comics, fellow Amazon Artemis took the mantle of Wonder Woman, even Hippolyta herself became Wonder Woman. I was hoping to hear Artemis’ name mentioned. Anyway, Diana’s quest to kill Ares and end the war makes up most of the film but grown up audiences know full well that war is complicated and that Diana is naïve and childish. The real quest is knowing how Diana discovers that she’s wrong. That underlying plot gives the film some of its charm. Darkness and Humor with a Purpose Steve and Diana make it to London, and we’re back to the DCEU’s dark and dreary atmosphere. But London and much of the world is in the period of the Industrial Revolution. A period of industry and pollution when man didn’t know any better, and that makes Jolly Old London hideous to Diana. That and the smog and fog often parodied in mainstream media. So the dreary atmosphere actually serves a purpose in the film. The pollution as well as the fog of war. The film isn’t dark and gloomy for the sake of it. Hopefully, other DCEU films after Justice League films follow suit because we’ve already seen the trailers. This is the part where she’s a fish out of water which is much expected. She struggles to fit in London assisted by Steve and secretary Etta Candy. This is also the part where much of the humor takes place. Speaking of humor, it’s not forced or shoehorned into the film. The humor is quite natural. It’s part of the film like Diana’s reaction on seeing a baby, wearing modern clothing and tasting ice cream for the first time as well as her interactions with Steve. More than Support Like Diana, Steve Trevor is much more than a love interest. He has his own quest which coincides with hers. The war is in a phase of armistice due to the Germans’ lack of resources but the villains General Ludendorff and chemist Isabel Maru (Dr. Poison) have other plans, and after seeing their weapons, Steve needs to return to the front and stop them. Britain’s imperial war cabinet forbids further intervention despite Diana deciphering the contents of Maru’s notes. Diana is also distressed that she cannot go to the front to seek out Ares. Steve promises to take her along with his own ragtag band in an unsanctioned mission to stop Ludendorff. Sir Patrick Morgan (played by David Thewlis, Harry Potter’s Remus Lupin), part of the imperial war cabinet gives his support. As mentioned in our non-spoiler review, Wonder Woman has similarities with Captain America: First Avenger. Steve here has his own Howling Commandos composed of Sameer, a French-Moroccan spy; Charlie, a drunk sharpshooter and Chief, a Native American smuggler whose an expert in getting through enemy territory. A Great Action Sequence Perhaps one of the greatest action sequences I’ve seen in a superhero film is when Diana penetrates the front lines. Diana who can no longer endure the suffering of civilians affected by the war decides to punch through the lines to rescue a besieged town. This happens as the team make their way to Ludendorff ignoring the suffering along the way. This is when Diana basically becomes Wonder Woman for the first time. Gal Gadot carried that same charisma she had when she first entered the scene in Batman v Superman but multiplied several times in this scene. The audience cheered as she walked towards the enemy and deflected the bullets with her magic bracelets. She then becomes instrumental in allowing the allied forces to leave the trenches and finally reach the town where she really kicks ass. Patty Jenkins direction is awesome, and you’ve got to see it to believe it if you haven’t yet done so. After that, there’s a time of lightness, and some celebration for the team and the town and Diana and Steve get to consummate their budding romance. This is when the photograph of the team was actually taken. The Conflict This is the part that I like the least in storytelling when the protagonists come at odds with each other which kind of ruins the fun but is essential to practically all plots. The German High Command is holding a gala attended by Ludendorff as a demonstration of his new weapon which Maru reworked despite the loss of her notes. Steve forbids here as their mission could get jeopardized, but she is determined to get to Ludendorff, convinced that he’s Ares. Ludendorff gets away but not before launching his demonstration killing everyone in the town. Diana blames Steve for intervening with her mission and proceeds to attack Ludendorff’s nearby base where he’s about to launch his offensive in the front. Steve and his team follow her. Diana fights Ludendorff enhanced by one of Maru’s potions and kills him. But her hopes of ending the war disappear as the conflict continues despite Ludendorff’s death. Steve meanwhile boards Ludendorff’s plane containing the chemicals. This is when Ares makes his appearance in the guise of Sir Patrick Morgan and tells Diana that war is inherent to humans and that he only nudges them with weapons and ideas. This is when Diana’s true nature is revealed that she is the true weapon that can destroy Ares and not the Godkiller sword which Ares destroyed on a whim. That Diana is actually the daughter of Zeus and Hippolyta and not a clay child given life. Ares tries to convince Diana to join him in destroying humans to rebuild paradise, but she refuses. Almost beaten, she gains more power upon seeing Steve sacrifice himself to blow up the chemical plane. Ares tries to use Diana’s anger to have her turn dark side by killing Dr. Maru but with Steve as an example, she tells Ares that humans are as capable of good as they are of evil and should be nudged in the right direction. The two have a final battle and she finally destroys Ares releasing a momentary burst of energy that temporarily removes hostility in the area. The story then switches back to the present day. Diana thanks Bruce for the photograph and she dons her costume to patrol the world. The Villains The film has it all. Intense action, drama, adventure and humor. The film almost follows the Marvel MCU formula but not quite as most MCU films have an inherent lightness to them. Anyway, what becomes similar to the Marvel films are the forgettable villains. Who the heck are Ludendorff and Dr. Poison? Dr. Poison is one of Wonder Woman’s recurring enemies in comics. Not sure if she already made a TV appearance anywhere including Lynda Carter’s series which I was too young to remember. Ares, we know is a major villain for Wonder Woman and is also the major villain in the Wonder Woman animated film. From TV, many would probably identify Cheetah, Giganta and the witch Circe as her rogues’ gallery. Perhaps this is one reason why Wonder Woman had to wait over 75 years to get a movie. She lacks identifiable villains despite her many years in animation. This is probably the same reason the Adrienne Palicki TV series failed to take off. That and her wonder pants. But this villain problem isn’t really a problem when it’s really the hero that takes center stage. Who was Kaecillius in Doctor Strange? Who was Yellowjacket in Ant Man? Who was Iron Monger in Iron Man? Who was Malekith in Thor 2? With films like these, the villains only serve to move the plot along in identifying the hero. They’re not meant to be really remembered though it would be nice if that were the case. A rare case is Loki in Thor. With Superman who has a long history, everyone knows his chief enemy is Lex Luthor. As for Batman, who is popular as heck, the common person won’t think twice in mentioning The Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, Riddler and Two-Face. Perhaps it’s also because the budgets for such human villains aren’t so outlandish to execute unlike Spider-Man’s villains like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus that require a lot of special effects magic to pull off. At least, hopefully with Wonder Woman, Ares has already cemented his position with Cheetah and Giganta as one of Wonder Woman’s opponents aside from being the Greek God of War. Aside from the villains and being rather slow during the non-action sequences, Wonder Woman is a great film. If we were to rate this film, let’s say 4 out of 5 sounds about right.

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