#am i imagining things or is every female character turning into a marvel version of themselves?

[captainvulcant]

ATLA vs NATLA: The same woman problem

There was one thing which particularly stood out for me in the live action ATLA (though it is not alone in this phenomenon) and that is how all the female characters seemed like they were reduced to the same basic archetype. We've seen it a lot in the media recently, the cool girl who is slightly wry, incredibly competent, badass, kicks ass, you get the idea. This is very much the modern makeover I felt the female characters in NATLA were given, and it got me thinking about ATLA and how good it was at presenting different types of women.

We had Katara who was fierce and nurturing, Suki who was cool and competent, Yue who was soft and kind, Toph who was brash and confident, Azula who was smart and scary, Ty Lee who was bright and mischievous, Mai who was insoucient and loyal. In the live action it felt like we just got different flavours of the same person.

I didn't take as much issue with the fire nation trio, Azula seemed pretty in character and we didn't see enough of Mai and Ty Lee yet to judge. I hope that they and Toph keep more of their strong personalities in season 2.

But Katara Suki and Yue fell pretty flat for me. A lot of Katara and Suki's personality traits were sacrified in the name of making Sokka less sexist. His learning in this area centres around his relationships with Katara and Suki and, therefore, with this aspect of his character removed it necessitated changing theirs. I don't personally see this as more progressive than the alternative.

Katara A huge part of Katara's personality is removed in the live action. Her nurturing, motherly nature has long been a point of contention in the fandom. But it represented a subset of women who are like that (ask any eldest daughter if Katara resonated with her). In the cartoon Katara and Sokka definitely trade off on being the responsible one of the group. Katara takes care of the basic needs, the emotional needs, and keeping the group together. Sokka takes care of navigating and the safety of the group. I don't know why they couldn't have kept this. Instead, Katara is treated like a child by Sokka (a whole year her senior and apparently all the wiser for it). The way that Katara takes over the role of her mother in the animation is reality for a lot of girls, these things often fall on daughters and I think Katara was a really important character for highlighting this.

Sokka's story focusses heavily on him trying to live up to his dad, so we could easily have had a parallel with Katara trying to live up to her mum. Characters can have more than one motivation, but for Katara we were just given her waterbending. And even here we miss key things through Katara being taught healing rather than discovering it herself, and then rejecting learning healing in favour of learning to fight. Ironically, NATAB has failed to understand the message of the northern water tribe arc - that both healing and fighting are important. And that is Katara: she heals and she destroys. She is a nurturer and a fighter. She is both, and both are important.

Additionally, a lot of Katara's relationship with Aang comes from her concern over him. With this absent, their relationship doesn't feel as strong, Aang instead being the one to teach and help her. Katara's emotional bond with Aang is also used in the live action as a plot point but it falls short of the emotional impact of the original because we have not been shown that bond. Katara's nurturing nature being contrasted with her fighting spirit and prowess is such a wonderful personality contrast which really rounds out her character in the animation and I felt its absence.

Suki I already talked about this briefly in my overall review so I will be short here. I personally didn't like what they did with Suki's character in the live action. In the animation I love how playful Suki is with Sokka. She is very self-assured, she knows what she wants and she goes for it. With Sokka's character changes we don't see this side of Suki with him anymore, she is unsure and un-wordly. Sokka seems instead to take the lead. She may still have the physical strength but the live action Suki feels lacking in emotional and internal strength for me. Added to this is her mother, who further brings out a side of Suki that isn't in the animation and I don't particularly identify with her character. I honestly can't quite explain my issue with other than it gave me an off feeling and the ick. I feel like I've seen this character so many times before, whereas Suki in the animation felt really refreshing.

Yue This is where we see the biggest departure from the animation. It's like they were so scared to make a main female character anything other than badass (in a very specific definition of badass). Every other female character I mentioned at the beginning can fight, and can fight well. Yue is the only main female character in the original who cannot, who doesn't even bend, and I think that's really important. It's important that Yue uses words instead of fighting, it's important that she does this despite the difficulties she faces due to her place in the world as a woman.

I was confused about why they would keep the Northern Water Tribe's tradition of women not being allowed to fight but not also keep the patriarchal governing system in place. Making Yue a bender and a priestess takes away the whole point of her original sacrifice, which is that you don't have to be physically strong or an amazing martial artist or bender to make a difference. It's Yue's heart which matters. Apart from the Avatar, Yue is arguably the most important character in the whole of the story. She is a soft girl, she is a kind girl, she is a girl who hasn't really been given much of a voice, she is a girl who has had her life very much decided for her. And she saves the moon. She saves waterbending. She does that. Only she could do that. To me Yue is an important parallel for both Aang and also Ozai (and to a lesser extent Zuko and Azula). She is the example Aang must follow, her destiny was to save the moon as Aang's destiny was to be the Avatar. These things are decided, how they approach them is up to the individual. With Ozai, Yue is his foil as a good leader. Unlike Ozai she never held the power of leadership, but she did assume the responsibility. She sacrificed herself for her people, Ozai sacrificed his people for his power.

The way they characterise Yue in NATLA just felt like too much of a departure from the original for me. They even make fun of the original when Yue says that she isn't really like her princess act (her act being how Yue is in the animation). Absolutely no hate to the live action actress as she was just acting how she was written and directed (although for me personally I also did not get any Yue vibes from her in terms of looks), but that Yue was far closer in personality to Katara and Suki (and even Sokka) than the animation Yue was. It's ok to have different types of female characters, and I hate how Hollywood has created this homogenised female archetype that is everywhere now.

I will end this on saying this is my personal opinion, a lot of this is based on feelings I had while watching it rather than concrete thoughts so obviously many people will disagree with what I have said, which is totally fine! I did find the characters to be a bit flat, I don't think there's anything wrong with making characters a bit more individual and vibrant even in something which is supposed to be "realistic". And once again I feel like the writing of female characters in particular has been let down. I think we sacrificed elements of the girls personalities in order to make them all extremely competent (apart from Suki who was too competent so they pulled her back towards the middle lol). As I've said before, much of this might have been solved by having a 10 or 12 episode run which allows for more character development and less plot. I think studios need to seriously think about whether this format serves the stories they are trying to tell.

[idy-ll-ique]

Paparazzi.

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x F!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Angst

Warnings: TOO META, m*sturbation, mentions of s*x

Requested: nope

Summary: I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me... Y/N Y/L/N writes Marvel fanfictions. One day, Sebastian stumbles upon her account and, unable to help himself, reads all the stuff she has written about him. He didn't mean to fall so hard for her but he does. How can he not? She has shown him parts of himself that he never even knew existed.

Author's Note: Hiya peeps! Okay so a few weeks ago I read a similar (but dark) fanfic and I really wanted to write a softer version of it... Enjoy!

---

Same old, boring routine.

Y/N hit post and slumped against the headrest of her bed, sighing. She waited; a minute, then two passed and she noticed that someone had liked her post. She smiled to herself as she kept her phone away. Though boring, she wouldn't trade her life for the world. Y/N… well, she was a university student first and foremost but she was also a writer.

Being a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she had started writing fanfictions a few years ago. She posted them on Tumblr, where her blog, though not very well-known, stood out enough for her posts to get around 800-1000 likes per post. She loved it; she loved writing, she loved posting her stories and especially, she loved the feedback.

Sometimes people were rude, but most times, the reviews she got were fantastic. She read each and every one of them, smiling goofily as people freaked out over her fanfictions. It warmed her heart. A smile automatically blooming on her face, Y/N lay down on the bed and decided to go to sleep, it being almost 3 am.

Unbeknownst to her, someone else was up at the same time, tossing and turning in his bed, restless.

Sebastian sighed as he sat up, running a hand through his hair. He drank some water and lay down again, closing his eyes but it was like sleep was mad at him. Refused to be anywhere near him. He groaned to himself and picked up his phone from the nightstand, deciding to go through Instagram, hoping he'd finally fall asleep to the glare of the screen.

As he logged into his account, he skipped the activity page and went straight to the explore page. Bored, he continued scrolling until his eyes landed on a specific photo. And the breath escaped his lungs when he clicked on it; the woman in the picture was absolutely gorgeous. He just couldn't resist going to her page, smiling widely when he read her bio.

It gave him her basic information; her name, her age, the university she attended. But what caught his eye was the link below the bio. My Marvel Fanfictions Master List. Marvel fanfictions? She was a writer? Smirking, he clicked on the link and it took him to Tumblr. Of course, he'd heard of the site, but didn't have an account on there. At 3 am, his mind sure wasn't working right.

A post popped up on the screen, the same master list she had mentioned earlier. And his eyes bulged out of their sockets; damn, those are a lot of fanfictions. He went through the whole thing, smirking again when he noticed that she had written the most fanfictions about him. Not Bucky Barnes, no, Sebastian Stan.

He clicked on the first one. The date of posting was way back, in 2019. He started reading; nothing about it felt weird to him; he was intrigued, if anything. And as he continued reading, he couldn't help but imagine her being in the stead of the female protagonist. Her, the writer. The woman whose picture had made him end up reading in the first place.

When he finished the story, his heart thudded wildly in his chest. Wow, she really has a way with words. And he had also noticed how in the author's note, she used a lot of slang but reading the story had made him realize that she had an amazing, extensive vocabulary. He went back to the master list and clicked on the latest post under his name.

Posted: 15 minutes ago.

His breath hitched in his throat when he read the warnings: there was going to be sexual intercourse in this one. For one moment, he hesitated; did he really want to read this? "Oh fuck it," he huffed and scrolled, starting to read. The more he read, the more his shaft twitched in his pants. He wasn't really like that during… but oh damn, he wasn't complaining.

"Oh, Seb…"

His hand slid down and he rubbed himself through his boxers, unable to take his eyes off the text in front of him. His strokes got harder and faster as the sex got steamier. "Ungh, I'm gonna cum—" And he suddenly came in his boxers, groaning. Slumping down on the bed, he quickly finished reading the rest of it, going back to the master list.

He took a screenshot with the account's name in it and then went back to her Instagram account to take another screenshot. Keeping his phone away, he slipped out of his boxers, cleaned himself and pulled the covers on top of him, finally feeling tired enough to fall asleep.

---

Y/N was walking across the campus of her university, going to the cafeteria when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Taking it out, she opened Tumblr to read the message someone had sent her just then.

his-username: Hi there! I was binging your account last night, you write really well

your-username: Omg thank you!!!! I really appreciate it, I love getting feedback! 🥺❤

his-username: You're welcome! Especially your latest post, that was really good ;)

your-username: hehe 😈 glad you liked it!

Smiling widely, she kept her phone away and continued walking, not knowing that the person who had texted her was the same man she had written about. Sebastian smiled to himself when he read her text. After getting up in the morning, the first thing he had done was install Tumblr on his phone. Then he made an account for himself.

Figuring out the app was easy; he found out that there was an option to keep your liked posts and the accounts you followed hidden, and selected it immediately. No one needed to know what he did on the app. Then he went back to her account, pressed the follow button and started binge-reading her fanfictions again. Last night had he read only two, and that had left him wanting more.

Funny how much things can change in a night. He liked and reblogged all her posts without a second thought; he even read all her Bucky Barnes posts. She understood his character so well, put him on what he thought was an undeserved pedestal while writing about him. Some of the stories were AUs, which he found out stood for Alternate Universes. Mostly mobster or mafia stuff.

He had the day off, and he spent the entire time cooped up in his apartment, on his bed, reading. The more he read, the more he started fawning over her, over the version of him that she put out to the world. Dominating, suave and just perfect. He loved it. At the end of the day, he decided to text her again, hoping she wouldn't think he was weird or find out the truth.

his-username: do you wanna be friends, maybe? I'm new to the app, don't really have any friends here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That was a lie, he knew Mark Ruffalo had an active Tumblr account. But it's not like he could tell him.

your-username: Yes sure!!!! I was also thinking of making some friends on this app lol

his-username: You don't have any on here? But you've been here for years, haven't you?

your-username: haha yeah, but I don't really reach out to people much. Sometimes people leave their feedbacks on my posts, text me but that's that

his-username: Ohhh

his-username: well, let's start with names. Mine's Sebastian

your-username: Really?????? omg that's so cool lmaooooooo (didn't think you were a boy but 😳👀)

his-username: Not a boy, I'm a man 😤😂

your-username: 🤣 im y/n, btw

his-username: Y/N, that's a nice name

your-username: thank you!!!! So, what do you do?

his-username: nothing really that interesting, I'm in theatre

your-username: theatre is nice! I'm studying at [university] in New York lmao

his-username: Wait you're in New York? So am I!

your-username: ASDFHKSHKGF that's awesome!!! also I noticed that you've been going through my account the whole day 😏 notifications upon notifications keeping my phone busy

his-username: Oopsie?

your-username: 😂😂 I really don't mind, it was great! Despite the amount of likes on my posts, I only have a few loyal followers lmao gaining one more felt nice

your-username: You a big fan of Sebastian Stan? Cuz I noticed that you were only reading his and Bucky's fics 👀

Sebastian's face heated up.

his-username: kinda yeah 🤷🏻‍♂️😁

your-username: Cool cool cool, I'm a big fan of his too!!!! also got a crush on him but whatever 😳

Sebastian smirked at his phone. A crush on him, huh? That… was acceptable. He suddenly felt his cocky side coming out; the one she described in nearly all her fanfictions.

his-username: wouldn't blame ya, I mean, look at him. You have also written the most fics about him and Bucky

your-username: right????? damn that man has raised my standards. Anyway, I gtg now, I have to finish a paper before midnight. ttyl!

his-username: Bye! 👋🏻

He kept his phone away and took in a deep breath. This was the most fun he had had in years, and he was not letting her go so easy. He realized he was quickly falling for her; rather unhealthy, but he couldn't help it. Look at her. She looks like a goddamn angel, writes like one, makes him feel like one, do you really expect him not to fall for her? That's insane.

---

Months passed by like a breeze. Y/N and Sebastian had become very good friends, and he knew his way around words just enough to keep her from finding out his identity while not lying to her. Y/N also appreciated his friendship, because he was the one to whom she could rant about her most favorite man in the world— Sebastian Stan.

Sometimes, she thought about how weird of a coincidence it was that her new friend and the actor shared the same names, but then she used to brush it off; that was a common name, right? They talked for hours on end; Sebastian (her friend, not the actor) was extremely witty, smart and fun to talk to, she had to admit. Sebastian felt the same way.

His feelings had worsened. Y/N entirely owned his heart now. Somedays, he'd just go on Instagram, go to her account— her username memorized by him— and stare at her photos until he grew tired; he'd never get tired of looking at her beautiful face but his stiff body afterwards begged to differ. She was just so Elysian. He longed for the moment when he could meet her in real life.

His personality had also changed majorly, and people had caught on. Especially his Marvel co-stars, who knew him to be introverted, shy and, in Anthony Mackie's words, "boring". They were surprised at his sudden change in attitude; he knew his worth and Y/N had helped tremendously in finding it. Now, all those adjectives that she used in her fanfictions fit him perfectly.

Sebastian was never tempted to read fanfictions about himself from authors other than Y/N. No, he only loved her work. He was sure no one else could write as beautifully as she did, he was her #1 fan. Y/N even sent him funny Marvel memes she found on the app and he used to enjoy them heartily; God, the others have no idea what they're missing out on. Our fans are awesome.

Everything was going well.

Until one day.

Sebastian was getting bored at home, so he decided to go to the nearby library to clear his mind. He had read not one book in the past few months, hung up on Y/N's fanfictions. At this point, he was obsessed with her and he knew it. It was nothing dark, per se, it was— it was similar to how Y/N was attracted to Sebastian. How she was a fan of his work.

Just the same. He was a fan of her work in the same way. Just how she was attracted to him, he was attracted to her. Walking into the library that he visited often, he gave the librarian a smile and ventured further into the dark place. He checked his watch; the library closed at 12 am, it was currently 9:30 pm.

Not many people were around, heck, nobody was around. He thought himself to be all alone until he heard it. A sigh, coming from a few aisles away. He walked in that direction and peeked around the corner, freezing when he saw the other person. Y/N? Her books were strewn all across the table as she sat alone at the booth, rubbing her temples.

"You okay?"

She looked up and her breath caught in her throat. I'm dreaming. This is not real. Now I know for a fact that Sebastian Stan is not standing in front of me, asking me if I'm— "Hello?" He snapped his fingers in front of her face, pulling her out of her thoughts. "I, uh— I'm— h-hi," she stammered and he almost chuckled. "Hi." She gulped visibly and blinked at the table, not meeting his eyes.

"Can I have a seat?" He wants to sit with me?! "Y-Yes, sure, sir," she blurted out and he easily slid into the booth next to her. "Hey, please, call me Sebastian. What's your name?" He gave her a friendly smile, even though all he wanted to do was push her back into the booth and kiss her wildly. His shaft twitched just by thinking about it; Y/N was a thousand times more beautiful in person.

"I'm Y/N, it's very nice to meet you, I'm… I'm a fan," she admitted, playing with the ring she wore on her left thumb. I'm your fan too, sweetheart, the biggest one. "Y/N, nice name. You come here often? I haven't really seen you around." She shook her head. "Oh no no, I moved to this part of the city just a week ago, this is my first time here. The library is cozy," she shrugged, easing out of her tense position.

Sebastian nodded. "Yes, I know, this place is awesome. Got all my favorite books here," he chuckled and she smiled at him. "What's all this?" A groan left her lips. "Ugh, stupid university work. I have to write a book report but I don't even know what to write about." He smiled gently. "Well, I have a few favorite books, would you like some suggestions?"

"Oh, please! Tell me!"

He started listing some of his favorite works and Y/N noted the names down until he said the last name. At that, she froze. That's the name of my latest— She looked up but he had a smile on his face. "Oh, and the last one is by my favorite author." He took a pause. "Y/N Y/L/N." She froze completely, staring at the man with her jaw dropped.

Sebastian grinned. "We finally meet, Y/N, I've been waiting for months." Her mouth opened and closed several times as she recalled every interaction she had had with her online best friend— scratch that— her celebrity crush. All the times she had confessed her love for Sebastian Stan, all the dirty and inappropriate memes that she'd sent him…

Embarrassment flooded her entire body as she exhaled shakily. "It was you," she croaked out, "On Tumblr, the account— I'm so sorry—" Sebastian frowned in confusion when she blinked back sudden tears, a few still rolling down her cheeks as shame replaced embarrassment. "Y/N, please don't cry…" She looked up at him, his figure blurry due to her tears.

"You've read everything, haven't you? I just— I'm sorry, I don't want to make you uncomfortable—" He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Y/N couldn't hug back, though she appreciated the hug especially since it came from him. "You don't know how much you mean to me, doll," he mumbled into her shoulder, using the nickname she often used in the stories she wrote about him. He grew accustomed to it easily.

"Huh?"

He pulled away to wipe her tears. "It was an accident," he admitted, "But I stumbled onto your Instagram account from my explore page. Then I clicked on your account, saw that you wrote Marvel fanfictions and I just couldn't resist the urge to read what you had written. Blame it on 3 am me, to be honest. You're a great writer, and I was immediately drawn to your works. They're awesome.

"They've helped me so much in the past few months. You see this changed attitude that everyone's been talking about lately? All because of you, sweetheart. I'm sorry for keeping my identity secret, but after reading your works, I knew I had to get closer to you. I made the Tumblr account just for you, just so I could talk to you. I'm sorry for lying, but thank you."

Y/N dumbfoundedly stared at him for a few moments, her heart beat getting steady with each thump. Here was a man she admired, loved more than anyone else in the world, telling her that he harbored the same feelings for her. How crazy was that?! Not trusting her words, she simply pulled him into another hug. Sebastian wrapped his arms tight around her, pulling her flush against him.

"Can I kiss you, doll?"

She slowly pulled away from him and nodded, shyly biting her lip. Grinning at the endearing gesture, Sebastian cupped her face and leaned in, gently pressing his lips to hers. The kiss grew hungry in a matter of seconds, and Y/N responded just as eagerly. His hands slid down to her waist and tugged on it, pulling her on his lap. She straddled his thighs as they continued kissing.

"Fuck," he groaned when they finally pulled away from each other, out of breath and panting. "You see what you do to me, doll?" Sebastian spoke huskily as he took her hand, placing it right on top of the tent that was forming in his pants. "Oh," Y/N whimpered when she felt him, the sound going straight to his shaft. "How about I take you home and we recreate some of the scenes from your stories, hm?"

"O-Okay."

"Good girl."

---

A/N: What a meta experience 🤡 Leave a like if you enjoyed, thanks for reading!

[flowervolcano]

It’s finally time I sat down and just wrote this whole thing so I can get it off my chest and maybe help flesh things out for the majority of the fanbase.

Black Widow Spoilers are upcoming, scroll past if ya don’t wanna be spoiled.

Let’s start with “Hello, I am a Tony Masters fan, I adore him and his personality and generally everything about him, of course I am going to be upset that his character suffered such poor writing and adaptation, because it was insulting and gut punching to see a character you love be poorly executed.“

continue reading please because I’m trying to be reasonable here and share what a majority felt when viewing Black Widow (it may differ from yours but I hope it enlightens a few who may be confused or whatnot about this topic, generally it’s how I feel the fanbase as a whole had been handling it poorly)

quick side note, no one wants to feel their opinion doesn‘t matter, so be mindful the next time you fight someone just because you disagree, I love debating and talking so you can come at me if you disagree, I like educating myself on these things too in case someone can bring up actual arguments that prove their side and reasoning, on the other hand if I hear one more “it’s because she’s a girl huh?” I might very well scream.

Is it bad because he turned out to be a woman? Why is this the first thing that gets debated??

Let me explain just how annoying it is that this is the debate whenever it cuts down to it.

The answer is yes and no, I will explain why, because I don’t believe the gender should always matter to a character.

Although everything great about Tony was stripped from him, all of it, only the title “Taskmaster“ and I guess the color scheme if you will, stayed the same, it would’ve been the same trash written character even if he wasn’t a girl, because they had no personality no resemblance of the beloved character in the first place, which is why it is a bad idea to have changed him into a woman, why you may ask?

it’s the image, it creates an idea that women cannot be as great as men, that a female version of Taskmaster would just suck, be terrible and useless, it paints Antonia to be bland plot device character to show Black Widow‘s pain and suffering. The character herself has no substantial personality or drive, nothing, she’s just a victim. And yeah it is a tragic story I won’t say it isn‘t but it didn‘t work for me, and for a lot of fans as I’ve witnessed.

It would’ve been more effective to had foreshadowed the possibility of her being alive only to find that she had died and Natasha would then have to live with the fact that she murdered her for ”nothing” but no instead we decided that she would survive, only she was brainwashed, so there’s no real vendetta or motive as to why she tried to kill Natasha, it would’ve been more impactful if Antonia was angry with her attempt to kill her, wanting to show she could best her in every well possible. Like trying to tarnish her Avenger status.

There were variables on how to make Taskmaster a better written character, there is potential but I personally would like the Mandarin effect (which I love the comic Mandarin I was so mad in IM3 so I can’t believe they did it x2)

On top of it the fact that the plot twist you could see coming a mile away also felt like the biggest after thought in the whole movie, it felt like they had a different direction they were originally going to go, but they took the easy bait of “we need a big twist” which Marvel has suffered for years on, always with some twist and it’s getting sickening to see it happen every movie.

Besides the point, it doesn’t go over well a lot of the fanbase is conflicted, angry and there are actual debates, which it happens we have differing opinions, its hard to find a thing we all agree on… and yet the only defense I’m seeing is “it’s because she’s a girl now?“ “you just hate women.” I’m tired of being told it’s sexism when it’s not, this version of Taskmaster was already doomed, they didn’t wanna go a comic accurate to begin with, you can tell by how ugly the suit was. (no cape?? not even the mask was cool)

I had already suspected from the beginning of the first trailer that was NOT Tony Masters, something about it just felt like Blindstrike from Stretch Armstrong to me (they kept making it seem like a dude only to reveal it was a woman, although they executed that perfectly please give it a watch)

I had already called it, we barely even met Taskmaster yet I knew it from the trailer, I didn’t enjoy the movie it played out exactly how I expected (which my expectations were low)

I found it insulting for a few reasons, it made it seem like Black Widow is either too good or not good enough to fight a man, it felt like they wanted to push how powerful women are, which I’m all for, women are very powerful I would know because I am one.

But it rubbed me the wrong way that she can’t have an enemy go toe to toe with her unless it’s a woman?? It didn’t sit right with me, is this meaning she can’t have a rival that’s a man because men or stronger or weaker… that’s where my head went, the gender shouldn’t matter to her ever, we know Natasha can take out anyone, so why the sudden change of a character whose always been a male?

I understand the MCU wants to be diverse, but there are more female characters than a lot of the fanbase realize, the MCU has barely scratched the surface, instead of changing other characters drastically in the name of “diversity” they should just pull actual diverse characters, or create some, this version of Taskmaster doesn’t feel anything like Tony Masters, they lacked all flair, the fact that it’s just Winter Soldier and Ghost from AMATW 2.0 is just lacking.

it’s something we have seen before, and this wasn’t needed to “full circle” Natasha‘s story.

It’s not because Taskmaster is a girl that is the problem it’s the general writing that felt like they didn’t really care about the character and changing it to be a girl was like leading a lamb to the slaughter, so many fans were going to be enraged because they ruined everything about the character, so you should be mad they put the actress in this position, they chose to do that to the character and it feels like it was done on purpose, just for the reaction.

The character was already bad making it a girl just made it worse because it just felt bad. It gave me the impression that a female version of Anthony Masters is just boring, that is not what we should think but so many are, and yes a lot of people are mad just because it’s a woman because they might get the idea that the character would’ve been better if he was written to be a male, but what we all really want is just a good adaption of the character, that’s all, he very well could’ve been a woman and everyone might’ve been alright (some might be iffy or mad you cannot avoid this) but I know with good writing I would’ve been fine if it was Toni Masters, not this Antonia Dreykov.

And that is what I really could not tolerate and handle with what they did to Taskmaster.

It didn’t feel like they had plans to flesh the character out they were just marking boxes on “what comic character can we use for Black Widow” checklist.

I freaking love Tony Masters and he (and she) deserved better writing all around than what the MCU gave them (and us)

There was more I was going to add on but in my frustration I began to forget where I was going with this and didn’t get to properly express my feelings.

Now next time you see someone complaining over Taskmaster don’t just assume they are sexist, there’s so much more depth to the character which is why we’re so angry over this iteration, and the fact that people defend the character just because it’s a girl doesn’t go well for me, that’s a poor excuse for people who had more pressing reasons why the character was a failure, not because they’re a woman but because it feels like we can’t dislike them because they’re a woman.

Imagine if your favorite suffered the poor writing just for a different characters development, it is a terrible feeling and having people tell you not to be upset or say you’re sexist for being upset is so invalidating.

Not to mention that the MCU continues to erase many traits and personalities of characters and on top of that, their sexualities (where is that diversity??) is already frustrating but it’s starting to feel like the writers don’t even value the characters they have.

[glassprism]

Since you're also in other fandoms, are there any ships/pairings you like? Who's your favourite pairing in POTO? Who are your favourite characters (from POTO to all your other fandoms) and why? Ooh, here's a rather unusual one: who's your favourite side character (name one for all your fandoms!) and why?

Yeah, definitely! Though whether some can be counted as actual “ships” is debatable, as you’ll see in a bit.

For Phantom, my favorite “ship” is the love triangle - E/C/R. Not in a polyamorous, threesome way, but one where I love the dynamics of the characters, the way they affect one another, the ways Erik and Raoul are similar and different. So it’s not quite a “ship” in a traditional sense where I want characters to end up with each other, but more in the sense that I like to explore and analyze them.

As for other “ships” or pairings, I’m just going to list, like, every fandom or random-ass thing I’ve ever loved in semi-chronological order (time to go back to my middle school fandoms!). Under the cut for length.

Harry Potter: Sirius Black and Harry Potter. I adored the godfather-godson bond between the two (absolutely no romance; I clicked on an mpreg fic of the two when I was but a wee lass of twelve and it scarred me): how Harry was the last living reminder of Sirius’s best friend, whose death he still feels responsible for; how Sirius is the parental figure Harry wanted, how they were never able to be happy god damn it Rowling. (You can imagine how much my eleven year old self cried when I read the fifth book. Oh boy, the tears.)

Star Wars: Vader and Luke. Again, totally familial, father-son relationship only. (Speaking of scarring experiences, I once stumbled on a romance fic between the two, where yes, both of them were still father and son, and I have that summary etched into my brain permanently.) The way Vader obsessively hunts down Luke, the first emotional connection he has had with a person in literal decades! The way Luke has just ached all his life for a father figure, to the point where he will take a homicidal Sith lord if that’s who he is! How he never gives up on trying to redeem him! How Luke is right. Loud screeching.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Will Turner and Bootstrap Bill and Will Turner and Henry Turner. More sad father-son dynamics (you may be noticing a pattern here). Repeat what I said with the Star Wars relationships, only with more pirates and less homicide. (And way more parental abandonment guilt.)

Halloween: Michael Myers and Laurie Strode,  remake universe. Yet again, no romance, just a severely messed-up brother-sister relationship. I can’t begin to tell you why I like the horrific relationship between a serial killer and the little sister he was so obsessed with he ruined her life, completely traumatized her, and ended up leading to her death, but I do. Maybe it’s the dark obsession aspect of it, that in the midst of all his murders, there’s still one person Michael Myers longs to have a connection with, the baby sister who represented total innocence in his mind. Maybe it’s the “what could have been” aspect too, as Laurie never recognizes him or realizes their connection until it’s far too late. Maybe I need to re-examine my life choices. I’ll figure it out someday.

Bat Boy The Musical: Bat Boy/Shelley. Yes, this is a romance; yes, they are half-brother and half-sister, yes, you can get on me about this, but in my defense how about you watch the musical and NOT come out of it shipping these two against all your better instincts.

POTO: E/C/R, as stated above and for all those reasons. Oh, and you know what - The Phantom and Gustave from Love Never Dies. Can’t get away from those father-son ships. I actually care about that relationship than E/C or R/C in LND (maybe because both E/C and R/C suck in the sequel so what else am I going to latch onto).

Batman: Listed here, but my heart really lies with three ships. Jaytim is the first: it’s the whole “angry woobie destroyer of worlds who hates everyone meets seemingly well-adjusted and cheerful individual who is secretly hiding their own issues” dynamic. Bane/Talia from The Dark Knight Rises is the second. Doesn’t matter if it’s familial, friendship, protector and protectee, or romantic, I eat it up, and to be fair, it’s never explicitly stated what the relationship is in the movie. All we know is that the two grew up together in a hellhole prison, probably dependent on and solely trusting only one another, and that bond continues even after they leave, and not even death will make them leave one another. Finally, we have Jason Todd/therapy from the Arkham games. Because the poor guy needs it.

MCU: STEVE/BUCKY (aka Stucky). This ship (again, could be friendship or romantic) dominated my thoughts for four years. Steve’s fish-out-of-water status! Bucky’s horrific imprisonment under Hydra. The way the two find each other after and the angst. The fact that Steve refuses to kill Bucky and, even after seventy years, succeeds in breakthing through to him because their connection runs that deep. The fact that Marvel just ruined this relationship so now I have to rely on fanfic. Oh yes, and I also slowly fell into the Kastle ship (Frank Castle aka The Punisher and Karen Page). Another “hardened killer with sad backstory who connects to idealistic young woman with hidden darkness” dynamic.

Terminator: T-800 aka “Uncle Bob” and John Connor. Returning to sad father-son dynamics, I have this from Terminator 2. A robot learning emotions! A boy learning to take his place as a leader and all-loving hero. The bond they form, partially because the T-800 will do nothing else but protect John and partially because John has no father-figure of his own, so his robot bodyguard will do. THE ENDING.

ASOIAF/GOT: I actually have very few ships from here other than Arya/Gendry (and only when they’re older) and, weirdly, Theon/Sansa from the show. The Gendrya ship is just cute, it may well be the most wholesome ship on here, while Theonsa has shades of Stucky in it, I suppose, given that Theon has been tortured so badly he can barely remember his own name, until Sansa turns up and reminds him enough that he breaks out of it to help her.

Favorite characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: My favorite characters from here are probably more side characters, so I’ll just say Hermione Granger. Her focus on academics, fear of failure, and conviction that the library holds all the answers, felt all too reminiscent of myself.

Star Wars: Darth Vader,  no contest whatsoever. Cool mask, cool cape, cool lightsaber, and the absolute worst life one can imagine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Interestingly, Will Turner. Yeah, I guess Jack Sparrow is cool and Elizabeth is absolutely awesome to watch and has the greatest change in the series, but oh-so-serious Will, with his deep loyalties and slow slide into moral ambiguity because of those loyalties, fascinates me.

Halloween: Laurie Strode, all versions. My favorite final girl, my survivor of trauma (except in the remake, where, well, she doesn’t survive). Also, her daughter in the Thorn trilogy, Jamie Lloyd, the most tragic little girl to walk across a horror movie screen.

Bat Boy The Musical: Ah, wow, haven’t thought about this. I guess Bat Boy and Shelley, more by default than anything.

POTO: Christine Daae, no contest. Love her character, love her arc, love her songs, love her costumes.

Batman: Listed here.

MCU: Bucky Barnes (unless he counts as a side character), but I also love Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Karen Page, Elektra Natchios... and I’ll leave it at that.

Terminator: John Connor. (There’s a reason I haven’t watched Dark Fate yet... or ever.)

ASOIAF/GOT: Three of them! Daenerys Targaryen, who I love because she tries so hard to rule well, who is so observant and cognizant of the things going on around her. Then Sansa Stark, who makes such astounding growth, who retains her empathy and compassion throughout, who is capable of startling perception and insight which most others underestimate. And finally, Cersei Lannister. She’s terrible. I love her.

And favorite side characters from each of those:

Harry Potter: Sirius Black may well have been my first fictional crush. But Remus Lupin is the kind of person (and teacher) I aspire to be.

Batman: I swear, depending on the comic series or movie, everyone is a side character. I’ll just link to my old ask again.

Star Wars: Batman syndrome all over again; every character in Star Wars might be a side character elsewhere, and every side character gets to be the main character of their own comic, book, movie, etc. Erm... I really liked Rose from the sequel trilogy and Chirrut Imwe from Rogue One. I find Mara Jade from the Legends universe fun to read. WAIT I GOT IT - Queen Amidala’s handmaidens from Episode I (Sabe, Rabe, Eirtae, Yane, Sache). Highly trained in both politics, decorum, and weaponry, able to be utterly nondescript or the Queen’s decoy at the drop of a hat? I love.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Hmm... you know what, I thought Syrena the mermaid was pretty cute.

Halloween: Rachel Carruthers! Your typical girl-next-door but well done and with a touching relationship with her foster sister. I will die mad about her death in the fifth movie.

Bat Boy The Musical: Uh.... I’ll get back to you on this...

POTO: Carlotta is super fun.

MCU: Oh heck, Dottie Underwood. (My taste in female characters goes like this: a) intelligent and observant, 2) sweet and compassionate, 3) batsh*t insane. She’s the third.)

Terminator: Not sure how much of a side character she is, but Kate Connor. Wife and second-in-command to John Connor, able to heal wounds and kick butt depending on what the movie requires.

ASOIAF/GOT: I’ll probably think of someone else, but you know what? Queen Rhaenys Targaryen, younger sister and wife to Aegon the Conqueror, whom he wed out of desire. Playful, spirited, loved to fly, sponsored musicians, initiated reforms for the smallfolk, what’s not to love? (Apart from one possibility of her death... but we don’t talk about that.)

[writingreactsandwords]

Hi! Could I get DAI LIs (pre-romance) reacting to a Desire Demon taking the appearance of the half-naked (or fully naked? Demons don't play around) Inquisitor to try to seduce and possess them? (maybe the team ended up in the Fade and got separated or something). In detail, if you feel like it, and maybe also non-LI companions reacting to seeing their leader like that, if you -really- feel like it. Hope I'm not asking too much!

Jumping right to it, anon! You’re not asking too much at all, though I do deeply apologise if this bloody essay of a post pops up on your dash when you’re not interested.

But honestly, long/big requests are no trouble. Might just take a little longer! I hope you like it! (Spoilers for Inquisition and Trespasser! Not, like, too NSFW but I wouldn’t want my mom reading it. Foul language ahead, buckaroos.)

Cullen (pre-romance):

Demons he knows too well.

When he sees her standing there, something inside him cracks for a moment. Cold, polished stone floors. His heavy Templar armour, the pain and sweat. The blood on the floor, the smell of abominations and growing, pulsing, rotting flesh. Her image is blinded briefly by the white translucent walls that had caged him, had trapped him in with anything that Uldred had seen fit to punish him with.

And then, as always, the cracks melt together again. A little tighter, more strained, more fragile. But his eyes can see what’s there.

It’s wearing her skin, her voice. And Maker is she perfect, the sight of her breaks whatever convincing he’d done to persuade himself he wasn’t as besotted as he felt.

Demon, he reminds himself, and the anger comes back. That it took what he wanted and wore her like a gown, took her body and made his first sight of her like this when she was unwilling, unaware. That it would use her as a game piece to break his mind makes the rage burn red hot in his chest.

“Cullen,” she whispers, and somehow he hears it as if it’s in his ear despite the distance. “Love. Darling. Aren’t you going to touch me?”

The leather of his gloves makes a soft noise as it curls around the grip of his sword. 

“Stop,” he says, and is ashamed of how his voice is strangled and cracked. Ashamed of how he can’t look at this thing.

“She doesn’t want you, Cullen,” she said, stronger and harsher, the tone of someone doling out hard truths. “I am the only version of her you’ll get. Give in to this. I’m soft. I’m real. As real as you want me to be.”

“Try harder,” he growls out, and his eyes are shut when he strikes the killing blow. 

Solas (pre-romance):

The Fade was, undoubtedly, a place of strange beauty. With its gravity-defying topography, electric greens weaving through the air and clouding the horizon with mist. The ever-present sense of danger, of eyes and fingers creeping up spines unseen. The Black City, as they called it, hung close enough that he felt he could reach out to touch it.

Yet none of it was as strange as her.

All softness and muscle stood like some terribly lifelike, terribly beautiful sculpture. She was the opposite of the rocky pitted ground. The opposite of terror.

Her presence made everything different, but it wasn’t her.

“This won’t work,” he warned, already gliding the staff into his usual stance. The spirit looked at him with hooded, sweet eyes. She was so beautiful, though admiring her here felt like a betrayal of trust. Like he should be admonished for being a peeping tom.

“I know,” it said simply. Her voice felt like something hard and sharp in his chest. “You don’t have many weaknesses, Wolf.”

He watched her and raised a dark eyebrow.

“She is one of mine?” He admired her, yes. Despite many- despite all of his better judgements, he couldn’t help but try to charm her. Couldn’t help but take solace in her, marvel at her intelligence and empathy.

It was wrong. He had not, wouldn’t (couldn’t) allow it to go further. The spirit’s spiteful grin made him shudder.

“She will be, Wolf. As you will be hers.”

He watched her as the disguise melted away in front of his eyes, a demonic violet woman stood in the Inquisitor’s place. Curiosity burnt, but he looked at it with icy eyes.

“Stand and fight.” He had to get back to the others, to her.

Cassandra (pre-romance):

Cassandra is a practical woman. She has never stilled her sword when she knew the enemy and knew the intentions behind them.

She knows now as the Inquisitor stands in front of her, naked and smiling, that he’s not him. He looks like him, certainly. Down to every hair, every dip and curve, the face she’s committed to memory despite it being downright pathetic. And… Below. Places she’s definitely not seen are still undoubtedly him.

But she knows what it is. A desire demon. Characterised, when in it’s ‘true’ form, by purple skin and long curling horns. Often female. Certainly not female right now, she thinks. Her eyes dart down, and her shame is amplified by that subtle, smug smile.

Her shield lifts when he reaches toward her.

“I could give you what you want, Cassandra,” he says in a perfect replica of the Herald’s voice. “Love. Sex. Passion. Take my hand, love. I’ll give you what he won’t.”

I want him, the real thing, she thinks though she shames herself for how soft it is. She has been tested many times before, in more difficult situations than this. 

“Die, demon,” she hisses.

Dorian (pre-romance):

Dorian knows the tricks of demons as well as any mage. They enter his dreams, his life, wait with bated breath for the pleasure of owning a man with such power as he. Sometimes desire demons, yes, offering sex and some of his deeper wishes in trade for something harmless on the surface yet terribly wicked beneath.

He’s spent far too much time with their shadow to be scared of them.

He watches the demon taking strong, graceful steps across the ground of the Fade in the body of the Inquisitor with bored eyes. Mind games. Taking his surface attraction of the man they called a leader and standing in his naked body. Trying to tempt him.

Still, Dorian remains quiet. 

“The Herald wants you,” the demon said in his voice. “He thinks about you at night, in his more… intimate moments.”

“Does he now?” Dorian asked, bored. “Whatever you’re trying to entice me with, it won’t work.” He adjusted his staff in his hand, an eyebrow raised.

“But he doesn’t care about you,” it said, ignoring him. Dorian’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t love you. Won’t love you. He just wants to fuck you, like all the others.”

Demons lie and trick, and besides, why in the name of the Maker would I care? He tells himself, even as something inside him hurts and his grip on the weapon tightens so much that splinters dig into his palm.

“You’re smart, Dorian. There’s nothing out of here for you. There’s nothing you can fix or do. But I can give you everything. I know you love him. I look like him, I sound like him, I can build you a reality that loves you back.”

Every word just makes him angrier, and his resolve doesn’t falter once as the mana charges up from his fingertips.

Josephine (pre-romance):

She wasn’t even meant to be here.

Josephine’s cheeks were already dark red from panic, her breaths short and her fingers gripping the ruffled sleeves of her shirt. She thought the rifts led to the same place, yet here she was, with no Inquisitor beside her-

Until there was. She felt the presence before she saw it, turned terrified with images of demons conjured, stood weaponless against an enemy triple her size. She spun, unprepared but ready- and came face to face with a person.

“Oh, Inquisitor! I-”

The press of their lips to the edge of her jaw is… unexpected. Unpleasant, almost. It’s not that she hasn’t thought about it. About them. Of course she has, they’re… The Inquisitor. Strong, brave, intelligent. Yet the mix of terror and surprise and relief and- something just being wrong has tainted it anyway. Rotted it, soured it.

The press of them naked against her breaks whatever shock was keeping her still. She nearly fell as she stumbled away from them.

“I-Inquisitor?” She said, her fear and embarrassment amplifying tenfold. They’re stood bare, mouth curled up into a smile clearly meant to be alluring but doing nothing but setting off warning bells. “You are… Not the Herald.”

“I could be,” it says with their voice, “if that’s what you want, Josephine.”

A desire demon, then. She watches it speechless, almost admiring of how complex their disguise is. Brought from her own mind, likely- her cheeks stain darker as she realises its naked form is from her own shameful fantasies.

It’s cunning, clearly. Clever. A creature of crafted deals and words, this she knows. But so is Josephine.

Stood weaponless against an enemy. Not quite. The Inquisitor would be looking for her, she knew. All she had to do was stall.

“Let us talk about what I want, then.”

The Iron Bull (pre-romance):

Bull doesn’t like demons, though he sure as hell likes the view.

Lately, the Inquisitor has been playing on his mind pretty bad, though he’s not certain why. There are some pretty clear reasons- they’re stunning, strong, genuine. They’re funny. They think he’s funny.

So the demons picked up on that, huh? He thinks, flinching as he imagines phantom fingers digging into his mind, his thoughts, picking out his daydreams and fantasies. Until they could build up the visual that had been pacing his conscious and cover themselves with it.

He knows people are weaker than they want to be and think they are, but still. That he was so easy to figure out is humiliating in its way. Terrifying in others.

“So what are you, then?” He asks, quietly. The demon’s eyes spark, something malicious and amused that don’t fit his Inquisitor’s features. It makes their body look more like a costume. A hot costume, admittedly, but with none of the character.

“I’m yours, Bull,” they say, almost sing-song, breathy and gentle. It works its way inside his ears until he can imagine the real Inquisitor saying it. Saying it in Herald’s rest, whispering it in his ear, saying it on top of him, underneath, anywhere.

He can’t help letting his eyes drag across them as they step even closer, head tilted just a little bit, hands sliding over their own skin.

“You’re good,” he nods, “but I fucking hate demons.”

He brings down the axe as they snarl.

Sera (pre-romance):

“This isn’t fucking real!” Sera yells, her voice straining against her own pitch. There’s green fucking everywhere, and there are floating rocks and- and- there are demons and shit and it’s the Fade and you don’t piss about in the fucking Fade and you don’t see the girl you’ve been pissing fantasising about in your actual dreams all naked and shit in front of you and-

“I’m as real as you want me to be, Sera,” she says, eyes sparkling with delight and- other stuff. Sera’s been squeezing at the grip of her bow awkwardly for the last however long naked Quizzy’s been stood there.

Like, what, a minute? Too long. Too close. Demon. Solas had even gone through the types- what’s this one? Desire.

She looks so… Her. It isn’t right. It isn’t close to right. Everything’s wrong and the actual Inquisitor is off somewhere with the others, or alone, and here Sera is having a stand-off with her fantastically naked body-double.

“Nothing’s real here,” Sera says, “except me. You’re just some- some piss demon.”

“Oh, Sera…” The Inquisitor says, her voice all moan-y and it’s never like that usually however much she wishes it was. “Look at me. There’s no danger in me. I’m just what you want. What you need. I might not be real, but the real Inquisitor… She wants nothing to do with you.”

“Fuck off,” she says, shaking, even though she’s letting the Inquisitor’s hand reach towards her, sliding over the air above her hip and it would be so good.

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be, love.”

And suddenly - venemously - her mind hisses, not real though, and she’s slamming the bow into the demon’s pretty face.

Blackwall (pre-romance):

“Inquisit–” Blackwall chokes on his words when he sees her. After the destructive wake of realisation has settled - and it takes a while, embarrassingly - his first thought is, absurdly, it’s been too long. He looks at the Inquisitor’s nakedness bluntly, unable to do anything else.

The would-be Warden does take a bitter sort of comfort in his self-flagellating, denying habits. I don’t deserve it is a common thought of his, so the last time he took relief in another person was…

It’s been too long.

He watches her with a dry mouth, words clawing up but choking out somewhere between the centre of his chest and his throat. He plants his feet a little more firmly into the pockmarked ground of the Fade, don’t forget this isn’t real, and curls his finger into fists as the supposed Inquisitor makes her way towards him.

Maker, she is… He wants so many things he can’t have.

The Inquisitor did not let them step into the Fade without knowledge. They all knew of the demons. They all knew they’d be more susceptible alone. “End it quickly, firmly, and do not give them a chance,” the Commander, Cullen, had told them. An ex-Templar with experience enough to look a little haunted at the thought of demons.

Despite it all, he’s allowed her to come this close. It. It to come this close. He breathes heavy when she, it, it raises its hand. Soft and warm and it lands on his bearded face not chastely, anything but; those eyes look at him with promise. Her mouth opens, wet and shining and-

“Thom.”

The illusion breaks. He raises his sword.

[barrimyr-adin]

Well here’s the Akatsuki Suppression arc notes

I hope you enjoy it because I sure fucking didn’t.

Ugh, i'm going to have to endure a bunch of Shikamaru bullshit in this arc.

Kishimoto is gonna turn Yugito into fodder, isn't he?

Asuma looked so douchey when he was younger.

I'd also like to know how he's doing all this ninja shit when he's been smoking for like twenty years.

I will admit that the OP music is pretty dope. I really like listening to it.

Is Konohamaru's voice actor also Ino's voice actor?

Part 1 Tsunade > Part 2 Tsunade

How is angrily stamping a bunch of documents while not even looking through them supposed to be taking your work seriously?

So why is Tsunade a princess but Naruto and Asuma aren't princes?

We all know damn well that the reason Kishimoto made Tsunade so "incompetent" is because she was the only female Hokage and Kishimoto fucking hates letting his female characters be good at anything other than being pretty.

I fucking hate these old dudes.

So Jiraiya just ditched Naruto and Tsunade to go on recon and didn't even stay in contact? What the fuck?

Pretty sure Kishimoto just needed him out of the way, because if he was there then he would have solved most problems super easily and Naruto wouldn't have had enough chances to act like a fucking moron.

The fact that Kakashi and Tsunade are encouraging Naruto's obsession with Sasuke is honestly disgusting.

Fuck you, Kishimoto. Just fuck you, you piece of garbage. Why do you hate women that much? You didn't just beat Yugito, you had to fucking disrespect her like that too!? And if you wanted her to lose, then you shouldn't have made her so badass in the first place. Fuck you, you were so damn lazy that you couldn't even give an explanation for how she was beat either!? For fucks' sake Kishimoto, just fuck off. I'm sick of your shit.

If this series wasn't anything other than garbage than Yugito would have fucking demolished Kakuzu and Hidan.

I hate how the Akatsuki can barely stand each other. Making the villains hate each other is a cheap way of dehumanising them.

You'd think Naruto would be more buff after three years of training with Jiraiya.

So is every Akatsuki pair just gonna be two douchebags who do nothing but argue about minor ideological differences?

This monk is dope as hell! Can he be the main character?

For fuck's sake, now we have to deal with these douchebags beating another person who should fucking wreck them.

And of course, we're not gonna get an explanation for how they win again. Because Kishimoto is lazy and has no respect for his story, characters, or audience. And apparently no one told him about the whole "show, don't tell" rule.

Am I honestly supposed to believe that Naruto "there-are-no-shortcuts-on-the-road-to-Hokage" Uzumaki is asking Kakashi to give him another trick to speed up his training? Somewhere along the path, Kishimoto entirely forgot who the fuck and what the fuck he was writing.

How the hell are we back to Naruto wanting to catch up with Sasuke? Wasn't like the entirety of Part 1 devoted entirely to that? And maybe you would be in the same league as Sasuke if you actually fucking did something in the past three years, Naruto.

Yamato is me right before exams.

I fucking love Sai.

So why are Sakura and Sai just sitting around marveling at Naruto instead of training themselves? I mean seriously, Kakashi, Yamato, you guys know they are also members of Team 7 right?

Sakura, why are you being passive aggressive towards your fucking elementary school teacher? If there's a teacher you should be pissed at, it's Kakashi.

Tsunade's plan seems clumsy as hell.

Aren't Ino-Shika-Cho supposed to be one of the closest teams? Why the hell are Asuma and Shikamaru going out with Izumo and Kotetsu instead of Choji and Ino? Does Kishimoto really not give a fuck about them at all? Don't answer that, I already know.

Like I heard about how people got pissed that Kishi pushed aside Ino and Choji to focus on Shikamaru but this is something else, man.

Is Sakura's character ever going to not revolve around another man?

Naruto, not bothering to rest is the dumbest fucking thing you could do. You know what Sasuke was doing when you guys found him? He was asleep. RESTING! Then he whooped your asses. The key to success is rest.

I thought his signature jutsu was the Shadow Clone Jutsu and the Rasengan.

Why do I feel like I missed a bunch of shit in the filler arc before this?

Like, I don't know who this monk dude was, but I'm gonna assume him and Asuma were boyfriends.

That bounty comment is kinda fucked up, Asuma.

How long is this ramen bullshit gonna go on for?

I literally could not give fewer fucks about Hidan and Kakuzu.

The reason I actually liked Kisame and Itachi is because they actually got along, especially in comparison to Orochimaru and his cronies. But fuck, the rest of the Akatsuki are just a bunch of assholes.

How is a change in chakra nature supposed to make the Rasengan stronger? The Chidori is both a change in form and nature but the Rasengan was more powerful (at least in Part 1 before all of Kishimoto's shitty retcons).

So from what I heard about Team Minato, I still think it's bull that Kakashi even knows the Rasengan. I think it would have made more sense if Obito, the obvious Naruto parallel, was able to learn the Rasengan through hard work but Kakashi the apathetic genius couldn't get it as easily as he got everything else, so instead he created the Chidori, something he could get easier. But to be fair, knowing the Chidori and the Rasengan and wielding the Sharingan helps with the whole image of being likely the most versatile ninja in the world, especially since Kakashi really hasn't been living up to his hype.

Are you really going to teach Naruto to create a new Rasengan before he's even mastered the normal fucking version?

I don't really get how a Rasengan with a change in chakra nature is considered unachievable? I mean, that's basically the Chidori.

I'm calling bullshit, Kakashi. You don't actually think that Naruto could surpass the fourth Hokage. If you did, you wouldn't having fucking ignored him for all of Part 1 and then just let him be taken out of the village. The only one of your students you believed in was Sasuke.

Naruto used to be the guy that nobody believed in. The kid that had to do everything on his own because nobody around him thought he was worth helping. Everyone thought he was a hopeless case. And i'm not saying that we still need that. But now we can't even have a single arc pass without like three or four people fucking raving about how much they believe in Naruto. It's like, for fuck's sake Kishi, how could you go so far from the heart of your series? How could you stray so far in the opposite direction from what was working?

You don't actually think you're going to fight the Akatsuki do you, Ino? Kishimoto is just gonna make you get your ass handed to you and then have one of his faves swoop down to save the day.

Choji is a really good friend.

For fuck's sake, Kishi. You couldn't even let Choji use his own fucking words? You just had to have it be about how kewl Shikamaru is. Ugh.

They were fucking, Shikamaru. Their relationship was obviously romantic.

Kakuzu, I really don't think you're allowed to just carry corpses into public bathrooms like that.

If the Akatsuki are known as international terrorists, then how the hell are they able to just go around wherever they want in their very distinctive robes without anyone giving a damn?

When did the Akatsuki become such fucking gimmicks?

Still pisses me off that we have Izumo and Kotetsu here instead of Ino and Choji.

Asuma seems to be overreacting to Hidan and Kakuzu. They've barely even engaged and Asuma's already making them out to be invincible.

I don't understand why Kishimoto is having such difficulty making Hidan and Kakuzu actually seem threatening. He refused to let us see how they beat Yugito, he refused to let us see how they beat the monk, and now Asuma is fearful of them for no reason. Kishi really forgot about the whole "show, don't tell" rule.

I see Kishimoto hasn't fixed Shikamaru's problem of sitting still for an extended period of time to think of shitty strategies while his opponent just fucking stands around doing nothing but watching him for no goddamn reason.

I get that all these shogi metaphors are supposed to make Shikamaru look smart, but they just sound like nonsense. It really just makes Shikamaru seem delusional. The battlefield is not a shogi set and your comrades aren't pieces. If you can't understand the situation without an elaborate metaphor about a board game, then you are a ridiculously limited strategist.

These monk techniques are fucking dope.

Immortal jerk is the only insult you could come up with, Shikamaru?

Asuma's Burning Ash jutsu doesn't make any sense but I'll let it slide.

The new OP shows a bunch of the Konoha 12 but its all lies. Kishi doesn't even remember that they exist.

Hidan went all hammy insane villain. How shocking. I've never seen that before. What a unique character.

I want to die.

I can't take Hidan seriously because he sounds like Billy Crystal.

I want you to imagine every scene with Hidan in it, but replace him with Mike Wazowski.

So Shikamaru was only able to save him because Hidan spent too much time screaming useless bullshit?

Yeah, guys. Shikamaru is such a badass. Such a genius. Incredibly intelligent ninja. Doesn't rely on luck or ridiculously stupid villains at all.

I fucking hate you, Shikamaru.

Thanks for reminding me about Sasori dying, Shikamaru. Still fucking angry over that.

Why would Shikamaru even doubt that Deidara is dead? Is Shikamaru's so-called intelligence ever going to make any sense or at least not be bullshit?

These fucking shogi metaphors are just getting goddamn annoying.

Look if you need to fucking stop time for 10 fucking minutes just to have your character analyse the situation then they're not a very smart character. And it's bad pacing and you're wasting time.

Your character is also not impressive if you need to make one of their opponents stand watching with their thumb up their ass instead of actually doing something for no goddamn reason just so they stand a chance.

So are Izumo and Kotetsu going to fucking do anything?

So how many more people are we gonna have to listen to kiss Shikamaru's ass?

Actually, there's really only one person kissing his ass. And its Kishimoto, who will never miss a chance to insert himself into the story in order to yell at the audience "LOOK AT SHIKAMARU, ISN'T HE SO COOL!?"

I swear, Kakuzu and Hidan are such fucking idiots.

Stitching Hidan's neck back together isn't going to change the fact that his inner organs have been sliced open.

So that super well-animated fight in the OP isn't going to actually happen? It was just for the OP? Man, fuck that.

The only person we've seen use crows is Itachi, so why is he attacking one of his own? Well, besides the bullshit plot twist I know is coming.

So who's this dude with the glasses and how's he going all Aquaman with the crows?

Jfc this taijutsu is horrible, it's only ever worth a damn either in OPs or in the ultimate climactic fights that the studios are saving up all their money for. But even so, this taijutsu is fucking trash to look at. Same with the Team Gai clone fights.

Holy shit, its Pain.

Not the voice I was expecting for Pain.

Where is he though? That is some fucking scenery.

I know I've already said this, but I really hate how the Akatsuki just turned into a bunch of douchebags just waiting to kill each other for no goddamn reason.

Is Shikamaru really trying to make Ino and Choji be quiet and listen to Asuma right  after he fucking yelled at Asuma to shut up?

Did Asuma just take his last fucking moments to fatshame Choji?

Man, Asuma really is a fucking dick.

Asuma, shut the fuck up. Shikamaru would be the shittiest fucking Hokage possible.

Man, Asuma. You sure are taking a long time to fucking die.

Asuma, are you going to spend all your damn time fatshaming Choji? It's not like his weight is holding him back as a ninja, in fact it's his strength. Maybe he'd be the super strong shinobi you wanted him to be if you spent some actual time training him instead of fatshaming him and playing fucking board games with Shikamaru.

Thanks for reminding me about how Shikamaru was promoted to chunin first. Still fucking pissed about that.

Is it bad that I felt literally nothing during Asuma's death?

Still think it's fucking stupid that Naruto still needs shadow clones just to make a normal Rasengan.

So in theory, Naruto could make several shadow clones and then then have all of them go through his Nine-Tails Transformation? Dude, no one could stand against him if someone just trained him to control the Nine-Tails' power.

Still think this shadow clone cheat is fucking bullshit.

It fucking sucks that Kishimoto thought making Sakura more violent was somehow actual development. She used to be one of the more intelligent, calm, and rational members of the team. Now she just threatens to beat anyone who disagrees with her.

Pain has been monologuing for so long that he's lost my attention. I know that he's explaining his intentions but it's dragging on for so damn long that I don't even care anymore.

Nevermind, it all just amounts to world domination anyways. So not much to even care about.

So the Wind Style: Rasengan is just a Rasengan with air pressure? How exactly is this superior to the Giant Rasengan? Or superior to making Naruto's training over the timeskip not shitty?

What's with this stylistic change in the Kurenai scene? Felt like I stepped into a psychological thriller.

I feel like we've seen Konohamaru cry at too many funerals. Can someone just give this kid a break?

Why does this lady have an irish accent?

"I'll be here for you" he says as he walks away from his own son while he's crying in agony.

Man, Shikamaru is a dick, Shikaku is a dick. Is there a Nara that isn't a dick?

Why are these fucking shots of Shikamaru's face and hands better animated than the fight Asuma died in?

Okay, I know I've said this before, but using shogi as a device designed to represent Shikamaru's intelligence is ridiculous.

Also why does it feel like the animation and art style have changed?

So why is it okay for Shikamaru to define the meaning of his life by vengeance but everyone gives Sasuke shit for wanting revenge against Itachi?

How the fuck did Kakashi and Tsunade just know to be at that specific place at that specific time? Wouldn't it have made more sense if Tsunade had brought Kakashi along in case they refused to back down? Its just stupidly convenient that the both of them just happened to know that Team 10 would be there at that specific time.

And why the fuck is Kakashi willing to go on this mission!? He tied Sasuke down to a fucking tree just to give him a speech on the futility of revenge, but he's perfectly willing to let Shikamaru go after revenge, even willing to help him? That's fucking bullshit. And yet another instance of Kishi going out of his way to make things go well for Shikamaru, even when all sense would point to everything going wrong for him.

And why not just bring Naruto instead of Kakashi? It's been established that Naruto is closer to Shikamaru than he is to others and he just mastered a new powerful jutsu. Plus you don't have to mess up his character to bring him along the way you have to with Kakashi.

Better yet, why didn't Kishimoto choose Kurenai instead of Kakashi? (the answer to this question is: sexism) At least then it would make sense for her to want revenge. Plus Naruto could continue training with Kakashi and maybe Team 8 could come in as back-up instead of Team 7. Give them some fucking focus.

Also, once again, Tsunade's characterisation has fucking sucked in Part 2. She used to be a very enjoyable character, now she's just an asshole who runs around shouting at people, letting everyone do whatever the fuck they want, and going on about how she believes in Naruto. I'm also sick of how everyone disrespects her, nobody acted this way towards Sarutobi.

Man, Kakuzu fucking dragged Hidan in front of the entire Akatsuki.

Tbh, Hidan is a fucking joke.

Wait, Ino is a skinchanger!? So dope!

That thing with Kakuzu and the bird was dumb in so many ways.

Jesus christ, did Kakuzu and Hidan really fall for that shitty fucking trap.

Shikamaru's new jutsu didn't even make sense. Not to mention that it came out of nowhere with literally no forshadowing.

I can't believe that Kishi is making Kakuzu fucking go on about Shikamaru being a good tactician when that was literally the flimsiest fucking plan possible.

They are really gonna drag out the process of Hidan mirroring Shikamaru's movements, aren't they?

So is Kakuzu a human puppet too like Sasori?

So Choji can harden his hair now? Since when could he harden his body at all?

I don't like how apparently every element is weak or strong against another particular element. It should be about the skill of the ninja, not about whatever fucking element they have. Plus, it just feels like it was shoehorned in right at the end.

To think that for a second I thought we were done with Kakuzu. I got my hopes up, thinking we were almost done with these fools' bullshit but nope. Kishi loves to torture me.

Kakuzu's special attack: getting uglier than usual.

Did Kakuzu just summon a bunch of No Faces?

Or were they hollows?

How the hell is your mask still on after that wind attack, Kakashi!?

Kakuzu named his giant fire attack after a headache?

Did Hidan just scream out "Heeyaah!"?

I feel like the animation has suddenly gotten so much better.

Or maybe not better, just... more fluid?

FUCK YOU, SHIKAMARU! I WAS SO READY TO SEE CHOJI WHOOP HIDAN'S ASS!

So are Choji and Ino gonna be able to do anything?

Oh yay, Kishi ruined Choji's character.

Why are you like this, Kishimoto?

So did Choji just conveniently forget to bring his clan's food pills?

Hidan and Kakuzu suddenly went from zero to badass in like a millisecond.

How did Shikamaru even catch Hidan in that Shadow Possession? Every other time he needed to make the hand signs just to keep the jutsu up.

So I guess of all the Akatsuki we've seen so far, Kakuzu seems to be the strongest. Though it still feels like a bunch of bullshit pulled out right at the end.

And Hidan seems to be the weakest, outside of Zetsu and Tobi who we haven't seen in action yet.

Well this new animation style is much more appealing, only problem is a lack of facial consistency.

So Kakashi has mastered earth style, lightning style, and water style?

When the fuck did Shikamaru become the protagonist of this series?

Seeing Hidan so chill is honestly unsettling me. He looks like me after I've failed an exam. Motherfucker just looks dead inside.

I don't get it. Was Hidan's jutsu connected to Shikamaru or Kakuzu? And if it was connected to Shikamaru, why isn't he finally fucking dead!?

So if it was Kakuzu connected to the jutsu, then what was that bullshit with Shikamaru about "not being deep enough"?

This may be the only time Shikamaru has actually been smart, although I still hate the whole masterplan-that-we-had-no-idea-about-being-revealed-at-the-end trope. It occasionally works with villains, but not with heroes. The protagonists shouldn't be misleading their own audience and in most cases it just feels like an asspull.

Also, even if the concept of Shikamaru's plan was smart, the whole thing would have fallen apart if Kakashi hadn't coincidently, conveniently, and nonsensically been in the right place at the right time and agreed to go with them (I still don't fucking understand why he went with them). Their whole plan would have been fucked if Kakashi hadn't been there, which shows bad planning and a lack of foresight on Shikamaru's part.

There will never be anything in existence as bullshit as Shikamaru splashing Kakuzu's blood onto Hidan's fucking needle of a blade as he's about to fucking stab him. Except maybe the fact that Hidan apparently didn't fucking notice it despite the fact that Shikamaru did it right in front of him. Like, he didn't even try to hide it.

Ugh, Kishi, if you want me to believe that Shikamaru is a genius then stop pitting him against fucking morons.

Did Kakashi just judge Kakuzu for killing without remorse when Kakashi is a fucking ninja?

AGAIN! WHY THE HELL IS KAKASHI OKAY WITH SHIKAMARU TRYING TO GET REVENGE!? He's not just fine with it, he's supporting and enabling it! It's completely out of character. After all that bullshit with Sasuke and the futility of revenge, he's just gonna do all the work so Shikamaru can get his revenge? Why?

Because Shikamaru is Kishi's self-insert, that's why. Fucking hate this character.

Why is Kakuzu even dead? Shouldn't he have three more hearts?

Why the fuck didn't we get to see Choji use that Expansion Jutsu: Super Slam on Hidan!?

Oh ffs, why is Kishi so insistent on not letting Choji and Ino do anything at all

im just so sick of this

Well, Kakuzu's back. When will I be free from this bullshit!?

I'm not complaining but why do all the Akatsuki members paint their nails

Hidan's laugh is depressing.

Did you really need to name each of them, Ino? As if everyone can't see them. And why the fuck did you leave out Yamato?

Sakura, we both know the smartest person in the Land of Fire is named Shino Aburame.

Of course Kishi had to insert a fucking flashback just to kiss Shikamaru's ass.

Apparently Will of Fire means being a lazy ass now.

How inobservant can Hidan be.

How many asspulls is Shikamaru gonna get?

And Asuma's ghost just randomly fucking appears? Yeah, that makes sense.

Why does Naruto have the slitted pupils but still has blue irises?

Ugh, it seems like Naruto has adopted Shikamaru's style of combat. Do almost nothing while your enemy just fucking watches.

Ffs, just let Choji do something!

How the hell does Wind Style: Rasenshuriken befit the Nine-Tailed Fox, Kakuzu?

When I heard about the Rasenshuriken, I imagined Naruto changing the shape of the Rasengan, making it thinner but wider and spinning at speeds high enough to slash through things. I imagined it being his own unique creation, a long-range Rasengan that could be thrown. Which would allow him to cover his bases and make up for his weakness when at long distance. But nope, it's just the Rasengan but bigger. Which is redundant considering he already has the Giant Rasengan.

And of course, Naruto fucked up again. Can you do anything right?

Didn't Kakashi say he's already used the Chidori four times that day? Isn't that his limit? Shouldn't he be fucking dead!?

Even Choji notes that the Rasenshuriken is fucking stupid.

Seriously, what's up with Naruto's eyes?

Ffs, Naruto you can barely do anything at all but you're talking about surpassing the Fourth Hokage? Man, fuck off.

And once again, Naruto is putting his pride before the mission. And somehow this is supposed to be endearing. And for some stupid fucking reason, everyone's okay with it. And for some even fucking dumber reason, Kakuzu hasn't killed them all yet.

Why do these deer look like demons?

He isn't that good, Sai. The author just loves the taste of his ass.

I'd say that I hope Hidan gets out and destroys the whole village one day, but let's be honest, Hidan is such a dumbass he wouldn't be able to get anything done even if he did get out.

A long preparation time is supposed to be a disadvantage to an attack, usually added only to extremely powerful attacks. But in this dumbass series, that doesn't matter because your opponents will always just fucking sit there and watch you do your stupid fucking preparations instead of actually fighting you.

I think the animation went back to its old style.

If Kakuzu is so focused on Naruto, why doesn't Ino just take the opportunity and use her Mind Transfer Jutsu to take control over him? This whole thing could have been fucking solved 10 episodes ago if Kishi gave a damn about his side characters.

God, the Rasenshuriken is fucking ridiculous.

Is it just me or has Kakashi gotten hotter?

Naruto hasn't surpassed you in the fucking least, Kakashi.

This is the fucking fifth time Kakashi has used the Chidori today! How is he not fucking dead!?

Man, Kakashi can be a real savage when it comes to trash talk.

Why the fuck are we seeing Shikamaru interact with Kurenai but not with her own fucking team?

ugh why do i ask questions i already know the answer to

did shikamaru just like.. lay claim on Kurenai's baby? he didnt even fucking ask her or anything

jesus christ even the pieces are the same. just call the fucking game chess

i feel like shikamaru has gotten even more arrogant than he was before

so naruto's body can regenerate the incinerated flesh after entering the four-tailed form but he can't take some extra chakra and wind pressure? that makes a lot of fucking sense

....

i just wanna die

so apparently the rasenshuriken is basically the eight trigrams sixty four palms ghdvuybfdjgfjwkjfdjJUST FUCKING KILL ME

it doesnt even make sense!

thats not how fucking wind works!

and when the hell has naruto ever been precise!?

and why can't he just heal!?

why am i still watching this trash series?

who the fuck is this lady orochimaru wants and why should i even care

how the hell is the rasenshuriken gonna be a last resort when he can't fucking do anything else?

IM FINALLY FREE

IM DONE WITH THIS FUCKING ARC

I DONT HAVE TO KEEP WATCHING THIS FUCKING SERIES

IM FREE

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[fuckyeahwintershock]

Author Spotlight: GingerLocks

Turn about is fair play, and this week’s Spotlight falls on last week’s recommender: GingerLocks aka @foreverdrunkatheart.

Recommended by @agentpeggiecarter, she says:

I’d like to mention the fantastic GingerLocks (on here she’s foreverdrunkatheart). She’s a smart, dedicated and hardworking artist/writer/human being. She honestly has it all. Her stories are engaging, fun and clever, my personal favorite being Operation: Plums and Entirely Too Early for this Much Glitter. Bucky and Darcy are always funny, honest and well rounded characters that carry you through her stories with ease, at the core of her writing are clever plots, smart twists and incredibly witty dialogue! I have all the emotions all the time when I read GingerLocks’ stories! And I think everyone should enjoy them a tonne more! Give her all the love pls!

The man smiled and started scooping, talking broken english to her, but from what she could piece together he thought she was Swedish because she ordered the black ice cream. Apparently salty liquorice was a popular choice among the Scandinavian tourists, and judging by the pale people here, there were a lot of them. “Here,” she handed the monstrosity of a cone over to Bucky, plopping down on the towel next to him. “Thank you.” They sat in silence, licking their ice creams, Darcy tried not to stare as some of the black ice cream melted over Bucky’s fingers and he stuck said fingers in his mouth to lick it off. Fuck that. He’s too hot to be legal. He met her eyes and raised an eyebrow, having caught her staring at his lips for a little too long. She cleared her throat, almost choking on her own spit, “any plans for tonight?” -Operation: Plums, Chapter 6

&

“So, basically, the extremeness of life and death has been taken away, and the kids all walk around to the other classrooms and the nursing homes instead of the catacombs. And they hand out the Lucia-buns to everyone there while they sing the Lucia-song and I voluntarily stress myself out with taking care of twenty kids who all carry burning candles.” “Ok…” “Hey, don’t be mister negative! When I first saw this thing, and I wasn’t in charge, it was beautiful! The buns and the candles and the boys wearing dresses and all the glitter!” He glanced at her quickly, he was driving in the middle of winter after all, and could see that little smile she had when she was feeling almost nostalgic. And there were not a lot of things she had to feel nostalgic about. The moment he saw that smile, he decided that Lucia was a very important day. No matter how silly it sounded, he would indulge her in every aspect of it, as long as she fell asleep at night with that smile on her lips. - Entirely too early for this much Glitter

&

“Oh golly, when these kids were first years, it took me twice as long to get them out the door. And I even had a tutor help me!”

“You say the cutest things when you have to censor your language.”

“Fudge you.” - Entirely too early for this much Glitter

Here’s what she had to say:

01. What about Wintershock as a pairing appeals to you?

I don’t know how it started. I think I fell in love with Darcy as a character, the way she was portrayed as the comic relief, BUT in a caring AND a nonsexual way. We’ve all seen the post abt how she’s one of the few sidekick characters to be portrayed with the respect that male sidekicks get and how awesome it was to see it in a female. Well that and my huge crush on Kat Dennings made me fall for this funny but loving and protective character. Then there was Bucky… Bucky, Bucky, Bucky. Where to start? I love him, from his ladies man younger years, to the amazing “till the end of the line” BFF and soldier, to the “broken-minded” assassin. I love him, I want to cuddle him up in blankets and give him chocolates and let him watch disney films, bc he deserves that! And I think Darcy will be the type of person to give it to him. She is also so incredibly ordinary compared to the superhumans and emotionally screwed heroes and I think they contrast nice (bubbly/silent and Loud/grumpy are my tropes!) and I think he will really give his whole self to his love and be completely “till the end of the line” with them, and I think they would both build each other up and accept each other as they are! <3

02. How did you first encounter the pairing?

Darcy and Bucky love seperately, then I fell for Shieldshock and Darcylanders were so open and inviting and I had just been in a really small and often attacked fandom and it was really toxic there so I jumped ship into your open arms! And then Shieldshock became Wintershieldshock and I was like “hang on, I really love the Darcy/Bucky thing going on, it’s more intense and kinda more varied? I guess. I think the Ot3 fics really made me think of the juxtapositions of the pairings and I fell hard and fast for both.

03. Do you have any specific Wintershock headcanons? Are there any particular fic tropes you like concerning the pairing?

I really like the “Darcy helps Bucky with pop culture” It’s sweet and I love when its portrayed in a way that has Darcy sharing her geekyness with the Nerd!Bucky. I also lovelovelove friendships and their relationships to others, I love how people have them work as a couple in a bigger setting. Just some boring domesticity for him (finally!) and a little more excitement in their day-to-day life for her. I got completely off track there…

I also love all the friends to lovers and FriendsWithBenefits turned more and a little bit of pining involves is also good, so all those overused tropes (c’mon guys, the reason it’s overused is bc it never fails to be amzaing!)

As for headcanons one of mine is, well, the same as MLChick said last week, the reading together. Just… being able to come together and be in the moment. Honestly, as a chatterbox myself I really appreciate the people I can both talk to and be silent with :)

Also, this:

http://foreverdrunkatheart.tumblr.com/post/128779875773/look-at-these-two-dorks-i-need-to-stop-based-on

04. Do you associate any particular songs with Wintershock? If so, which one?

Only, like, half my iTunes library… I mean it completely depends on what kind of fic I’m reading. For some reason I love a lot of Norwegian songs for them… I based a whole fic (Oh Please Honey (just tell me you want me)) on the Norwegian song “Aldri” by Razika, which is basically a more melancholy version of “Never getting back together” by TayTay Swifty, and concludes with ‘pick yourself up and find another boy’ and I had Bucky be the other boy and now I can never listen to the Aldri song without thinking about Wintershock.

05. What Wintershock fic by someone else would you recommend to others to read? What about this fic appeals to you?

*Link to last week’s author rec here ;) and then I also recced another author for later ;) ;)* But honestly though, MarvelLitChick’s series, and the Wintershock series by Lara @agentpeggiecarter and I also love the Run verse, but everybody knows the run verse so there is no point reccing that when probably everybody else has (if not then go read that at once!) and, well, currently I am reading a hilarious fic called “mission proposal: Date Darcy Lewis” by Amarantex. That and the Pizza verse by Pollydoodles never fail to light up my day.

06. What kind of Wintershock story would you love to read that hasn’t been written yet by you or others?

I have one… NAY 2, stories that are burning a hole in my mind. I have the main ideas written on a post it and hidden in a notebook, bc I am really torn, like on one hand, I want to write it myself… and on the other hand I wanna read it without writing the 20-50k needed to make it work and do it properly… Idk, I am still sitting on them, I don’t wanna let go just yet, but at the same time I am writing my bachelor this spring and I have 20-50k other things I have to do. Deadlines and projects riding my ass… Then again, apart from those two ideas (that may or may not be leaked in the future) I think the fandom is vastly creative and really cashes in on the crackship factor and all the possibilities that entails, giving us a wide variety of fics that covers most of the tropes I can dream of! Great on you!!

07. Out of the Wintershock stories you’ve written, which is your favourite, and why?

Oh, idk, I really love Operation: Plums, and Please Honey (tell me u want me), but honestly, I really love my oneshot “Therapy Cooking” a whole damn lot. It was the 3rd idea on that post it, and I just sat down and wrote it. I know next to nothing about psychology and mental health and PTSD so I spent a lot of time researching it and I was like “wait, is therapy cooking a thing?” bc I am still unsure, but it should be! Therapy where you are taught practical life skills and they make sure you get at least one decent meal and you get to focus on other things than just talking. Imagine how easy it would be for people in group therapy to connect and help each other if they were working together on a lasagna!

So I was entertaining the idea for a long time, on the post it, and I really wanted Darcy to be the “normal one” who had something deeper, and for Bucky to come out of his shell and find himself. I wanted them to heal apart AND THEN together. Independence for the characters is always important, and in this fic I got some Sam Wilson magic, and Supportive Steve, and a bubby Darcy who got the one armed Bucky to come out of his shell and reclaim the flirty aspects of 1940’s Bucky.  And the way he goes from “I don’t know who I am now” to having a personality is great :)

“Look at these lemons, James!” Darcy marveled at a crate of lemons, already stuffing handfuls into a bag. Bucky looked up from the plums he was perusing, remembering his last day in Bucharest and trying to shake the lingering paranoia.

“I’m buying the whole crate, and I’m going to bring some to class and the teacher is going to teach me how to make those amazing lemon tarts. You know, the tiny ones in the bakeries with the meringue on top.”  

Bucky smiles at her enthusiasm and shakes off his paranoia, reaching out for a bag and handing it over to Darcy’s waiting hand so she can hold it open as he loads it with plums.

“You just wanna use the the cooking torch,” he accuses.

“Well duh,” she rolls her eyes and elbows him in the ribs, “but lemon tarts are good without the meringue too…”

Bucky ends up carrying the crate of lemons on his hip, giving Darcy his wallet and trusting her to pick the best produce on his shopping list.

08. Quote a favourite extract from one of your stories. What is it that you like about it?

(oh, this was where I was supposed to use a quote. Oh well.)

She then reached over and grabbed his right hand, licking between his thumb and knuckle before she shook salt on it and gave it back, enjoying his bewildered look as she did it to her own hand.

“Now, lick the salt, drink the shot then bite the lime.” She smiled, and did just that. When she was done she shivered from the burn of the alcohol and raised her eyebrow at Bucky, who was still standing there with the lime wedge and shot in his hands.

She raised her other eyebrow in challenge and he narrowed his eyes at her, licking, shotting and biting.

“That wasn't so bad was it,” she beamed at him. He made a vague gesture of displeasure and she laughed. “No worries, Bucky-Buck, by the end of the night you’ll be doing body shots” she winked and handed him the Jaegermeister. He sent her a quizzical look and accepted the shot, taking the second one while she drank some water.

She looked over the dance floor next to them trying to find an example of exactly how to dance and turned back to point out the guy in a blue plaid that was doing this really cool dance with a girl who looked like she was in over her head with her sky high heels. She mentally thanked herself for her own sensible shoe choice as he spun his partner and she nearly lost her balance.

“That guy in-” she caught sight of Bucky’s phone screen before he tucked it away, she glanced up at his face and a slow smirk spread over her face. “Where you just googling body shots?”

Bucky didn’t answer, she was pretty sure he grunted, maybe even flushed a little, but the music was too loud for her to hear and the flashing lights were of no help what so ever.

She kept grinning at him until he leaned forwards, closer than last time, “you offering?”  with that stupid half smirk of his.

She blinked, but didn’t answer. Trying to determine whether he was flirting, just being Bucky, or genuinely wanted to experience this body-shot (and how A-Okay she was with that). In the end he rolled his eyes nodding towards the dance floor with his eyebrows raised.

From chapter 3 of Please Honey. I really enjoyed writing this. The two of them having fun, being together, (and this is the friends-to-lovers trope that I love so much) and I love adding humor to my plots, and as the rest of this story is big on feelings and slight angst and is also all about being ready for a commitment and doing all the stuff you gotta do to make it fair on your SO. So yeah. Bucky awkwardly googling body shots and him imagining lying Darcy out on the bar so he can do the thing is both hot and kinda dorky. ;)

We hope you’ll show her some love!

[drink-n-watch]

Genre :  Fantasy, drama, yaoi, catboys, almostmullets

Length: 30-50 years

Studio: Nitro+ Chiral  

It seems the Ribika (a race that evolved from cats) have just about reached the end of their rope. Not only has a terrible epidemic killed most of their females, bringing their species to the brink of extinction, but some type of terrible calamity is making their world itself reject them. Little by little, the world is being taken over by the Void, making great swaths of territory lethal to the Ribika and cutting off their resources. In these bleak times, the best a cat can hope for is to lead a quiet life and die a painless death. And that’s exactly what Konoe was planning to do but it seems he’s at the center of something bigger than he could ever imagine. As he finds himself swept away by an adventure full of danger, demons and ancient magic, can he find the strength within himself to save the world. Luckily, a lot of pretty pretty catboys are happy to help.

It says something about me that my autocorrect doesn’t even pick up the word “catboy” anymore. Something along the lines: Irina is awesome, you should be her friend!

How you doin’

I actually have quite a history with Lamento. I had been a fan of Nitro+ for a while. Their 5pb studio has produced some of my favorite Visual Novels in general, the main studio is responsible for such titles as the flawed but still worthwhile Saya no Uta and Hanachirasu, and of course they collaborated with Type-Moon on the massively popular Fate franchise. Point is, Nitroplus knows how to craft a Visual Novel. It’s no surprise that eventually I got curious about their BL imprint Nitro+Chiral.

My very first encounter with Yaoi in general was the Visual Novel Dramatical Murders. An experience I found so amusing that I quickly decided to try something else from the studio. True Blood looked a little too standard and while Sweet Pool seemed to be a bottomless pit of wtf, I couldn’t find a version I could play. This left Lamento which wasn’t a bad thing at all. In fact, the cover art and description were exactly suited to my tastes and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

oh no…I forgot to move my mouse…

What followed was a study in ambivalence. Right off the bat I really liked Lamento. I loved the high fantasy setting and deep lore. This being a Nitro+ game of course, the production was irreproachable, with a large fully voiced cast, even extras get their own actors, and all of them are very good. The music plays an important role in the story and has obviously been given a lot of special attention. The art is beautiful, and a huge collection of sprites and transition effects, give the impression of animation.

crowds can get loud

Even by today’s standards, this is a high quality visual novel. There aren’t too many choices to make and most are obvious, but some are still rather intriguing, and I did feel some interactivity. The way the story branches out and then intertwines in the various routes, makes second playthroughs much more engaging than in some other titles.

Nad for all that, I couldn’t finish it. Not even a single route. I played for a bit then sort of abandoned it for close to a year. By the time I decided to pick it up again, I had forgotten most of it and started over. I played for a few weeks and didn’t catch up to my first playthrough. You see, that 30-50 years length time isn’t a typo. This game is soooooo long.

painfully long

It feels as if an excellent team of writers put it together, but they had no money left over for editors. It’s full of description and little side events that, while well written, bring nothing to the story overall. I think that you could have taken out about half the script without really affecting the substance in any way. The pacing is just terrible.

And because of this, it takes a while to truly get into it. You have to read through hours of exposition and establishing text, remember dozens of characters, before you get any meaningful development that would cause you to empathize with anyone. Except Bardo – Bardo is the best from minute one but of course he only shows many hours into the game and you’ll need a few more before you can get on his route and actually get to know the character at all.

the best I tell you!

Of course, once you’ve finished one route, you can skip previously read text in subsequent playthroughs but, as this is an older game, you don’t have an autoskip button. You have to hold down the shift key (at least on my version). There are a few around this, like playing in window mode, holding down shift then bringing a different window in front (like Youtube for instance), then you can let go of shift and it will go on skipping (which is really just fastforwading) on it’s on. It’s still a bit of a hassle. Without exaggeration, I believe my second playthrough consisted of at least 30 minutes of skipping. That should give you an idea of the gargantuan size of this thing.

bigger isn’t always better

So time and time again, despite liking every single element of Lamento, I ended up getting discouraged and dropping it before it truly got the chance to start. For some reason, after finishing a few VNs and Otomes in a row, I decided to give it another go a few weeks ago. I figured I would control my completionist tendencies and skip over bits I remembered and concentrate only on scenes I had zero recollection of. This helped a bit. It still took a while but, possibly having gained patience with age (Ha!) I stuck it out, and boy am I glad I did.

Nitro+ knows how to put together a visual novel. A few days in, I had caught up to my first playthrough and was firmly on adorably idiot Asato’s route. It took me another week to finish the game mind you, I know, cause I didn’t sleep for 5 days… Catboys…

who’s the cute kitty

The story is classic fantasy stuff, a few routes seem to have some plot holes and you will need to play everything to get the whole picture but it’s decent. I would like to see an anime version of this. I enjoyed how fleshed out and interesting all the supporting characters were, even minor ones. The dramatic aspect of the story is undercut by frequent humorous interactions and the devils are always good for a laugh.

Although explicit consent is a little iffy, there no actual rape scenes (except two of the very bad endings) and at most suitors will pester Konoe into romantic situations but never force him. Probably one of the most respectful BL games I’ve played in that regard.

there was a lot more trust building than snuggling…

The power dynamics are excellent as well, and different in every route but consistent with the characters’ personalities. As for the sexy times, they are pretty sexy indeed. Just ridiculous enough.

As an aside, there’s frequent touches of cat behavior – i.e. grooming, purring, playing with grass blades or chasing mice, that are just adorkably hilarious.

unfortunately I have no screencaps of those – so you get a hug

I’m not going to put a full playthrough here, but if you’re interested in that I refer you to domshiki’s fantastic, marvelous, I wish they would start posting again but that’s probably not happening blog. Warning, very NSFW and spoilers (duh).

I will however give you a taste of those fine catboys that have made my local coffee shop a fortune:

Konoe

That’s me! Nice huh. It could be you too! Konoe is a BL game protagonist. He’s pleasant and down to earth. Usually the straight man…um, well, you know what I mean…. He was however a bit more tsundere and prone to lashing out that the average, a trait majorly brought out in Bardo’s route. Konoe is in way over his head but he’s pretty rational and doesn’t play the damsel in distress much. In every route the characters sort of take turns helping each other out and I really like this. I enjoyed being Konoe quite a bit.

Rai

I think he’s the main route. His is the longest in any case and has the most CGs. (And they were almost all naughty, that’s why you guys get these…) I remember hating this guy the first times I played. Again, I’m not sure what happened in the last few months, but I really didn’t mind him this time around, at least at first.

He’s the stoic, super arrogant, cold type and it takes him forever to warm up but when he does, it’s pretty gaaahhhh. He’s not abusive though, just very distant. Oddly, I found him more annoying towards the end of the route when his arrogance seemed to go up yet one more level. It was already too high.

Konoe is the closest to a stereotypical MC in this route. Strong headed but still generally submissive and hopelessly devoted to his partner. This said, he does put Rai back in his place a few times and make fun of him, so not entirely hopeless. At the start of the game (for the first 2871443825t86 hours) I thought this would be the one route I have to drag myself through for the sake of completion, but I did end up enjoying quite a bit of it. Not just the CGs… I mean they didn’t hurt…

Asato

Asato is a big ol puppy dog in kitty form. He has some serious trauma in his past which I suspect involves getting dropped on his head a lot. He’s a little slow but brimming with good will and madly in love with Konoe. His voice actor does a tremendous job really bringing out both the slow and the love.

Since he’s nothing but a big ball of adorableness, Konoe can’t help but to get a bit protective of him in this route and you end up taking a more dominant, leading role. For some time, Asato is obviously much more interested but Konoe eventually starts sharing the affection and the natural development of their relationship is really very sweet.

Both characters go through a huge amount of growth and this would be my favorite route except..

Bardo

I loves me a troll. Always have.

Bardo is the dirty ol man with the big mouth. He’s super easygoing and endlessly teases, well pretty much everybody, but Konoe in particular. As the older more experienced one he tends to take the lead in situations and seems to relish in embarrassing Konoe as much as possible. Which makes the younger kitten lash out every two seconds.

This is by far the funniest route for the most part but of course we eventually get a strong dose of dark and troubled past! This is sort of the opposite of Rai, as Bardo seems to have fallen deeply for Konoe while the latter tends to ignore and push him away for the most of the run. However, it’s also the only time we get any hint of jealousy out of Konoe which was fun.

Bardo mixes all the playfulness with a good amount of comforting and he is by far the most reliable partner for Konoe. In quieter scenes, when his voice actor went for a tired or worried tone, he was so delightfully attentive, it actually comforted ME.

As I said there are a ton of fantastic side characters, antagonists and demons, all of which are really just a delightful.

See even my post for this game went on FOREVER.

TL:DR Lamento is a very good game with very bad pacing. If it weren’t for the length, it would probably be one of my favorite Visual Novels. I miss my catboys already.

Favorite character: Firi (I didn’t even get to talk about Firi…) and Bardo

What this VN taught me: PATIENCE

Suggested drink: a Devil’s Cat

Every time Konoe gets snappy – take a sip

Every time Asato says Konoe – take a sip

Every time a Devil makes an appearance – take a sip

Every time kuims are mentioned – get a snack

Every time Rai tchs – get some water

Every time Froud or Verg laugh – take a sip

Every time Firi makes an appearance – raise your glass

Every time Leaks is mentioned – take a sip

Every time we see the poet – take a sip

Every sexy time– put the glass down, you don’t wanna spill

And here are all the screencaps I couldn’t even fit in this monster post!

Lamento Beyond the Void or How to Ruin Your Sleep Schedule with Catboys Genre :  Fantasy, drama, yaoi, catboys, almostmullets Length: 30-50 years Studio: Nitro+ Chiral   It seems the Ribika (a race that evolved from cats) have just about reached the end of their rope.

[andrewnstewart]

I’ve got a lot of opinions. Anyone who follows me on Facebook or Twitter or in real life knows this. I constantly want to talk about things that are going on in the world of entertainment, but I need an outlet. That’s what this is for. Every week, I’ll give you my thoughts and impressions on the biggest pieces of entertainment news, from trailers, to promotional images, to breaking news stories. I’ll even provide short reviews or impressions of the things I’m watching, reading, playing, and listening to every week. So sit back, relax, and get swept up in the swirling vortex that is… Opinionado!

Film:

Justice League (Trailer 1)

Whoo boy. Starting off with a doozy, huh? This was probably the most anticipated trailer on the planet. Even before Batman v Superman’s release, fans and critics alike have been wondering “What the hell is that Justice League movie going to look like?” Turns out, the answer is “Like a Zack Snyder film”. It’s got the incoherent action, the muted colors, overall grimy texture, and the copious amounts of slow-mo. The only thing this doesn’t have is Malick-like shots of wonder and Christ imagery. I’ve watched this thing a few times now and tonally it’s just all over the place. The film LOOKS exactly like a sequel to BvS would be expected to look, but they’ve sprinkled in a bunch of “light-hearted” attempts at humor (some of which works and some of which doesn’t) and layered the whole thing in a cheesy, rock-version of The Beatles’ “Come Together” because apparently Beastie Boys’ “Unite” would have been too on the nose. Look, it’s no secret that I’m not a fan of how Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder have handled the DC Extended Universe. I want them to succeed, because I actually like DC Comics and their characters and storylines, but I also want them to fail so that they can just start the whole thing over from scratch and do it the right way. I have no idea if Wonder Woman will be good (although the skeptic in me says to not get your hopes up), but I’m almost positive that Justice League will not be a good film. I hope I’m wrong – I actually like what they’ve done with Aquaman and the Flash, and I think Cavill, Affleck, and Gadot are actually a great central trinity – but man, some parts of this trailer look really bad! Cyborg is just awful on every level (is his costume still rendering?) and the set pieces in this thing just look so dreary. It’s like someone took Return of the King and turned down the saturation. And really, “Come Together”? Damn.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (Trailer 2)

“If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.” CHILLS. Man, I am so ready for a good Spider-Man movie, and I really hope that’s what this is. It’s not the Marvel film I’m most excited about this year (that honour goes to Thor: Ragnarok), but I’m cautiously optimistic. I think that Tom Holland is a great Peter Parker, and I’m geeking out that Spider-Man will get to be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I mean, could anyone else sell that “Friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” line the way that Robert Downey Jr. sells it? I don’t think so. I love the whole “John Hughes with superpowers” thing, especially since I just saw the same thing done quite effectively in Power Rangers. We haven’t see much from the extended cast yet (remember that Donald Glover, Martin Starr, Hannibal Buress, Tyne Daly, Kenneth Choi, Tony Revolori, and Logan-Marshall-Green are all in this movie and I think we’ve seen glimpses of maybe2 of them in the two trailers released thus far), but I love the chemistry between Holland’s Peter and Jacob Batalon’s Ned. I’m even excited for the Vulture, and I don’t like the Vulture as a villain. I haven’t been a big fan of any of his iterations, be it revenge-seeking engineer, youth-sucking vampire, acid-spitting mutant or whatever, but I think this works. If anyone can pull this off, it’s Michael “Birdman” Keaton himself, and they’ve actually designed a Vulture suit that looks appropriately badass, especially when paired with that vintage military flight jacket. I’m excited to see where they take this whole thing.

A Ghost Story (Trailer 1)

Every now and then, there are movies that I hear enough good things about that I decide to abstain from watching their trailers. I did this for Arrival, I did it for Split (after seeing the initial trailer), I’m doing it for Colossal, and now I’m going to do it for A Ghost Story. So no, I haven’t watched this trailer yet, but I’m been assured that it’s a good one. Watch it, or don’t. Your choice.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (Trailer 2)

Man, I have no idea what to make of this movie, but I think I love it? It’s like Terry Gilliam, Baz Luhrmann, and Guillermo Del Toro got together to direct a pastiche of Star Wars, Jupiter Ascending, Moulin Rouge, Guardians of the Galaxy, John Carter, The Fifth Element, and Doctor Who. It’s so wacky and colorful and fun. I have absolutely no familiarity with the source material, but even if it fails completely on a plot and/or characters front, I need to see it on the biggest screen possible on opening night.

A Dark Song (Trailer 1)

I don’t have much to say about this one other than, uh, creepy. This looks to be right up my alley. I believe we’re going through a bit of a horror renaissance right now, and this looks like a strong contender to join the ranks of It Follows, The Babadook, The Witch, Get Out, and the rest.

It (Trailer 1)

Nope nope nope nope nope nope NOPE. That was my initial reaction to this trailer. Actually, I think my initial reaction was “holy shit”. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that this looks absolutely terrifying. I’m haunted by the image I saw as a child of a clown in a sewer grate, and this brings that right back to the surface. I get chills watching this thing. I know people are upset that Cary Fukunaga walked away from this project because they wouldn’t let him make the movie he wanted to make, but that doesn’t necessarily damn the movie. We were all upset about Edgar Wright leaving Ant-Man, but that movie turned out great. I’m not saying that Fukunaga’s It wouldn’t have been better, but that doesn’t mean that this one will be bad. Pennywise looks insanely creepy and the movie looks like it has been very well shot. I even kind of want to read the book now, which is insane, because I’m pretty sure it’s like, 8000 pages long.

Tomb Raider (Promo)

I mean, she looks great. That’s my opinion on this. She looks good. That’s really all we know, but it’s a good sign, right?

Sony Is Making Their Own Marvel Cinematic Universe (News)

If you haven’t already heard, this past month, Sony announced plans to release two new comic book movies in 2018 – an R-rated Venom film and a Black Cat/Silver Sable team-up film. If you don’t know who any of these characters are, that’s okay – most people who aren’t Spider-Man fans wouldn’t recognize them, which is why it’s weird that Sony is betting hundreds of millions of dollars that people will flock to the theaters next year to see them. Back when Sony was still producing those decidedly not-amazing Amazing Spider-Man films, they had plans for a grand web of interlocking Spider-Man films – a Spider-Man Cinematic Universe, if you will. They were in development on a Sinister Six film, a Venom film, and a female-led Spider-Man film. And then the Sony hack happened, and all of these details leaked out, and Sony began to tank. They ended up teaming with Marvel Studios to produce a new series of Spider-Man films that would tie into Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, the first of which, Spider-Man: Homecoming, comes out in July. We all assumed that Sony’s dream of a Spider-Man cinematic universe had died, because it just doesn’t really make sense to do that without Spider-Man. Well, you know what they say about assuming, right? As it turns out, Sony is charging full steam ahead of producing a number of Spider-Man spin-off films that will be, in no way, associated with Spider-Man: Homecoming or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And that’s certainly… a choice. This is… this is maybe one of the more misguided decisions I’ve seen a studio make recently. I mean, I think DC is making a ton of mistakes with their cinematic universe, but at least they have access to all of their characters. Venom was designed to be Spider-Man’s foil. Black Cat was introduced as a love interest for Spidey. What are these characters without their shared history with Spider-Man? Imagine if DC made a Catwoman movie that had nothing to do with Bat-what? Oh, they did that already? Well how did it do? Oh. OH. Well… yeah. Then I expect these to do about as well as that did. Good luck Sony. You’ll need it.

Joss Whedon is Directing a Batgirl Movie (News)

Chances are if you know me, you already know how I feel about this news. My feelings towards the DC Extended Universe can be summed up with one Shania Twain song:

As I’ve said before, I’m torn on the DCEU – on the one hand, I’d love to see good movies based on DC characters, but on the other hand, I don’t want to see future movies saddled with the garbage continuity they’ve established thus far. I want a fresh start. Rebuild it from the ground up. Don’t build your home on a dubious foundation like Batman v Superman. Alas, Suicide Squad made enough money to keep this failed experiment afloat and I’m sure Wonder Woman and Justice League will help matters, regardless of their quality. With each passing day, I’m more and more convinced that we’re stuck with what we’ve got, but I can’t shake the feeling that everything Warner Bros. is doing is misguided. Did you know there are currently 18 DC films in various stages of development? Of those 18, only 6 have dates, and only 3 of those 6 have officially entered production. It’s absolutely bonkers. There is constantly so much drama going on behind the scenes of these things – the rumor mill is constantly churning, and it would be easy to just disregard it all if Warner Bros. didn’t have a history of driving talent away from their DC franchises (I’m looking at you The Flash). I’m not even sure it’s worth formulating an opinion over Whedon’s Batgirl film because the chances of a) it actually happening and b) Whedon being involved are so slim that it feels pointless. Will I watch a Batgirl film directed by Joss Whedon? Absolutely. I’ll watch anything by Joss Whedon. Would I rather he not make a Batgirl film and do something else instead? Absolutely. Will I get my wish? Probably! Who knows? Come see me in a year if Whedon is still attached to this stupid thing.

Review – Ghost in the Shell (2017)

Look, there’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this anime adaptation and the whitewashing it contains. I won’t defend it, but I also understand the decisions that lead to this point. I’m not going to say anymore on that here because frankly, I have no authority to do so. I also don’t have the authority to speak on this film as an adaptation. I’m not a big anime guy. I haven’t seen any of the source material. In fact, I skipped out on watching the original film specifically because I wanted to judge Ghost in the Shell on its own merits. So what did I think? I thought it was good! Not great, just good. I enjoyed my time with it. It’s not going to win any awards for plot or characterization – it raises some interesting questions that it never gets around to answering – but it sure looks nice. The production design is just fantastic. The effects, the sets, the cinematography – this is a nice film to look at it. I kind of want to see it again in IMAX for that reason alone. If you’re looking for some entertaining eye candy, you could do a lot worse than Ghost in the Shell. If you’re looking for a deep, philosophical sci-fi film that’s going to blow your mind, look elsewhere.

  Television:

Black Lightning Gets a Costume (Promo)

In case you weren’t aware, The CW is getting a fifth (FIFTH!) DC superhero show in Black Lightning. It’s unclear as of now whether or not Black Lightning would exist as a part of The CW’s Arrowverse, as it was initially developed for Fox, who passed on the script. The pilot is currently filming in Atlanta and we now have our first look at Cress Williams in costume as Black Lightning, and it’s… busy. Aesthetically, it actually fits in well with the rest of The CW’s superhero shows. They continue to go in a completely different direction than Marvel Television, who seem intent on downplaying as many costume elements as they can (just check out the leaked set photos from the Inhumans). Many have remarked that this would be a better costume for the Inhumans’ Black Bolt, but… we’ll get to that when we’ve got an official still from that production.

ReBoot Reboot is Official (News)

As a kid, I adored Reboot. The first computer animated TV series, ReBoot was revolutionary from an industry standpoint, but it was also revolutionary to me from a storytelling standpoint. ReBoot, along with its sister-series Beast Wars (or Beasties, for us Canadians) showed me that kids show didn’t have to be dumbed down. Both series’ featured dark, mature storylines, with character deaths and plot twists. A lot of my storytelling proclivities were formed during this period and they greatly influenced me. So it’s with a heavy heart that I must announce that ReBoot is returning as a CGI/live-action hybrid. Who is this for? People have been clamoring for more ReBoot for years, and every now and then we’ll hear something about an eventual ReBoot reboot, but now it’s officially official and I don’t think it’s what anyone wants. Instead of a straight sequel or a re-imaging, we’re getting some weird thing about teens who play an MMO and get tasked with protecting… cyberspace or something. I don’t know. It sounds really stupid. One of the character’s names is “Goog’z”. GOOG’Z! Apparently the original characters will play some sort of role, but I just don’t really have any interest in seeing human characters. Am I the only one? I hope I’m wrong! But I’m never wrong. My opinions are always right (re: DCEU).

Legion Season 1 (Impressions)

I recently finished the first season of FX’s Legion, and… y’all should watch Legion. It is such a unique, gem of a show. I don’t want to spoil any of the weird, little things that make it so special, but I will say that the acting, the music, and the production values are all top-notch. It quickly became one of my favorite currently airing programs. Things start off weird and only get weirder, but the payoff is worth it. This is a Noah Hawley (Fargo) show based on the X-Men franchise. I shouldn’t have to convince you to watch it.

Attack on Titan Season 2 Premiere (Impressions)

It’s time. Time… for anime! I’ve never been a big anime fan, but one of the few shows that I had actually watched was Attack on Titan. I go to anime for weird, crazy things that I can’t get from American films and TV shows, and Attack on Titan fits that bill. It takes place in a world in which humanity has been driven into near-extinction by a race of mindless, titanic, naked men. Yeah, you read that correctly. The remnants of humanity hide behind 3 massive, concentric walls that protect them from these titans, but they’re forced to fight when a colossal titan breaks through the gate. They fight using these aerial maneuvering devices that utilize gas-powered harpoons attached to ropes to swing through cities and forests like Spider-Man. It’s as crazy as it sounds. It’s ridiculous, intense, disturbing, and graphically violent. I love it. After a 3+ year wait, season 2 has finally premiered, and the insanity has continued. There are a couple great twists in the first episode and I can’t wait to see where things go from here.

  Games:

Destiny 2 (Worldwide Reveal Trailer)

I, like many others, have a love/hate relationship with Destiny (both the game and the universal force). Prior to its release, I had it in my mind that we were getting something along the lines of “epic space opera of Mass Effect meets combat of Halo”. What I didn’t expect was “first-person sci-fi Diablo with less story”. It’s a very nice looking game with interesting art design, it’s got a good world with plenty of lore to discover, and the gameplay actually feels great – it’s just that none of that ever coalesced into a really great whole. The pieces are (mostly) there, but they were never arranged properly. The fun was mired by confusing systems and weird restrictions. I think there is a great game lurking somewhere in Destiny (and I’ve certainly sunk enough hours into it), so I’m hopeful that Bungie figures things out with Destiny 2. I think I like this trailer? The tone is a little off though; it feels like it’s trying way too hard to be whatever it thinks people want. I’m holding off judgment until we learn more about what the game actually is and how it differs from the first entry.

  Music:

Kendrick Lamar – “Humble”

Okay, first of all, the song is straight fire. Second, does anyone else feel like Kendrick watched Beyonce’s Lemonade and thought “I can do that”? Not that this 3-minute video necessarily stands alongside Beyonce’s opus, but it certainly seems to be inspired by it. The video is filled with fascinating imagery and interesting camera shots. I’m not smart enough to begin to understand what any of it means, but it sure looks great, doesn’t it? It inspires hope in me that I’ll actually enjoy Kendrick’s new album after feeling let down by To Pimp A Butterfly. Yeah, that’s right. Come at my haters.

Broken Social Scene – “Halfway Home”

I was a huge Broken Social Scene fan back in high school, and they, along with Arcade Fire, basically shaped my taste in music during the mid-to-late 2000’s. I was a fan of just about anything the Arts & Crafts label released, and at one point I was basically buying all of it (even though I ended up with many CD’s I disliked and would never listen to again). I thought that I had outgrown Broken Social Scene, but it sure brings a smile to my face to see them all performing on stage again. BSS concerts are a special experience, because it’s literally just a group of friends playing music together on stage. There’s a purity and an intimacy to it that you don’t get from big, packaged concerts. I’m not sure I really dig the song all that much, but I’m glad that Broken Social Scene is back regardless. “Friendship ladies and gentlemen, friendship!”

The start of a new series in which I share my opinions on the entertainment news of the week. I’ve got a lot of opinions. Anyone who follows me on Facebook or Twitter or in real life knows this.

[wbwest]

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West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 3/31/17

So, as a week has passed, I find I’ve got some more thoughts on Power Rangers. I watched it again (don’t ask me how), and I actually liked it a lot better. The first viewing is pretty jarring, but once you know what you’re getting yourself into, it’s easier to let go and let Zordon.

Something about it struck me, though: the teens have an odd bloodlust thing going on. They’re really jonesing to kill something/somebody. When they first encounter Alpha, and don’t realize he’s “one of the good guys”, Zack’s immediate response is “We could kill it”. Not “Hey, we should run” or “We need to get away from it”. It was basically “We could end its life”. And while I know kids shows have to use language like “destroy” or “eradicate” or anything that’s not “kill”, I’m not used to applying “killing” to the world of Power Rangers. Even Zordon says that Rita must be “stopped”, and the kids immediately take that as “We have to kill Rita.” Hold your horses, hoss! I know they live in some little podunk fishing town, but have these kids killed before? Will they kill again?!

Also, Brian Tyler’s score needs to be applauded. It’s one basic theme that’s repeated throughout the film, but I didn’t realize how epic it was until the second viewing. Sure, it’s not “Go Go Power Rangers” or any of the show’s songs from Ron Wasserman, but it really conveys that superhero aesthetic the movie is going for.

It’s not all sunshine and roses in the world of Power Rangers, however. First up, original Green Ranger Jason David Frank was apparently kicked out of the premiere of the film because he took out his camera to film the audience’s reaction to his onscreen cameo. If you’re not familiar with his antics, his lives his life online. He thinks he’s giving a ton of access to his fans, so he basically vlogs EVERYTHING. Signings, convention panels, etc. He was a web series called My Morphing Life, so I assume  he was trying to get footage for that. Well, security did what the original 5 Power Rangers couldn’t do, and that was defeat the Green Ranger. They escorted him out and he didn’t even get to see the mid credit scene. They tried to take his phone, which he wasn’t about to let them do, so he yelled “It’s morphin time” and proceeded to beat up a bunch of middle aged men. Well, I don’t know about that last part, but it’s still fun to imagine.

Next up, murderous Wild Force Red Ricardo Medina Jr has been sentenced to 6 years in jail for the 2015 stabbing death of his roommate. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty voluntary manslaughter, and he got the maximum sentence for that charge. While I poke fun at it, the whole matter kinda sucks. I mean, he claims it was in self defense. In this crazy country, if he’d shot the guy, we probably wouldn’t even be having this discussion. Instead, he had to go and use a sword, and the American legal system just isn’t built for that. Here’s hoping he gets off early for good behavior or something.

There was a Justice League trailer released last Saturday, and that’s all I have to say about that. No, I guess I have more to say. Look, if the DCEU movies still get you hard, then more power to you. I’ve been fooled enough by those films to know that they’re more than likely not going to be my cup of tea. I felt like I was in Bizarro World, though, as everyone seemed to love the trailer but hate Cyborg. I was the opposite. I just can’t get excited about these things anymore, but I thought Cyborg looked cool. I’ve been told the CGI is outdated, but I’d rather he look like that than just a Black guy in a silver suit. Anyway, Snyder makes long-form stylized music videos. That’s what Watchmen was, and Dawn of Justice was a darker version of that. Here, it’s business as usual for him.

Speaking of DC movies, apparently Joss Whedon is in talks to write, produce and direct a Batgirl movie. Ya know, until he drops out. I’ve never worshipped at the altar of Joss, as I can see the holes in his whole gimmick. He’s always the go-to guy for “strong, female characters”, but I feel like it’d make more sense to just hire a woman instead of hiring a man who seems to understand women. I think DC is just trying to hedge their Bat bets because they know Affleck has one foot out the door. DC is the KING of announcing shit with nothing to back it up. The only time the MCU did that was with Inhumans, but DC has promised Green Lantern Corps, Black Adam, and  Cyborg films – all of which seem to be in Development Hell. To me, this is just another empty promise. DC is the dad who makes a ton of empty promises because he’s scared you love mom’s new boyfriend (Marvel) more than him. And they’re right. Have people forgotten all the Wonder Woman drama? People act like this is a major heel turn, with Whedon “defecting” from Marvel to DC, but I think the Russo Bros effectively swept away any influence folks thought Joss had on the MCU. Age of Ultron was a bore of a chore, so I’m not exactly jazzed about him crossing the aisle. I also don’t like the idea of a standalone Batgirl film that didn’t organically evolve from an existing Batman franchise. The Batman is falling apart, and instead of fixing that, they move on to Batgirl? Get your shit together, DC!

In the world of TV, Katie Cassidy is reportedly returning to Arrow next season as a series regular. Instead of playing Laurel Lance, however, she’ll be reprising her Earth 2 identity as villain Black Siren. If you remember, she crossed over into our world this season, and Oliver’s determined to rehabilitate her. I’m bored just thinking about it. However, if you know anything about the Arrowverse, you know that “series regular” doesn’t mean much. After all, Willa Holland is a series regular, and we’ve seen Thea how much this season? And Cassidy already had that exclusive Berlantiverse contract this season that yielded few results. I guess we’ll have to wait and see how much exposure she actually gets.

Speaking of the Arrowverse, we finally got our first look at Cress Williams as Black Lightning in the pilot being filmed by The CW. Fox passed on this a few months ago, so naturally The CW came to the rescue. Personally, I don’t think that universe needs a fifth show. They always add a show to the detriment of another. Arrow suffered when Flash came along, Flash suffered when Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow came along. Supergirl‘s still getting used to its new home, while Legends is only just starting to get good. I think they should focus on what they have instead of trying to expand right now. Someone online said that Black Lightning was corny, but so was Static and folks are always claiming they wanna see that character make a comeback. Sure, Black Lightning hails from a different era, and I really hope they just call him Lightning, kinda like how Ollie was just The Arrow in the beginning. The only important storyline I remember featuring Black Lightning was when he was chosen to be the Secretary of Education under the Luthor Administration. Other than that, his daughters have had more page time than he has in recent years. I’d be all for the character joining the Legends team, but I don’t know if there’s enough meat on that bone for a series. And knowing The CW, they’re gonna green light it anyway – not even stopping to think how a failure would devalue the brand.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

The Big Bang Theory scored a 2-season renewal, which will take it through season 12. Suck it, haters!

Han Solo is not the character’s real name. His birth name was Handsome Solowitz, but his manager made him change it

Adam Sandler inked a deal for another 4 Netflix movies. When, exactly, did he officially become the White Tyler Perry?

In the upcoming film, Jumanji will now be a video game console and not a board game. As someone who never saw the first film, and has never played many board games, this doesn’t bother me in the least

The upcoming Astonishing X-Men comic series will feature a different artist every issue. All I know is that each issue better be a self-contained, done-in-one affair, or this is gonna get messy!

TLC is planning to bring back Trading Spaces. Paige Davis better return to host, or GTFO.

Jack the Ripper time travel drama Time After Time has been canceled by ABC

Bones ended its 12-year run, making it the longest-running Fox drama

AMC has renewed sci fi android drama HUMANS after a blink-and-you-missed-it second season.

Jordan Peele is being sought after to direct the live action Akira movie. Seems like an odd choice, but I guess he can write his own ticket after Get Out‘s success.

Mindy Kaling announced that her series, The Mindy Project, would end after its next season on Hulu.

In music news, I’ve just discovered a new Chinese boyband called Acrush. There’s a catch, however – it’s actually made up of androgynous girls! CRAZY!

Did you see that? I’m just glad Spider-Man is in the MCU now. Nobody does a shared universe like Marvel, so it’s nice to see him come home. It still feels like it’s an Ultimate Spider-Man movie, what with Gank…”Ned Leeds”. Seriously, why would Marvel go to the trouble of clearly putting Miles Morales’ best friend Ganke in the movie but then call him one of the Hobgoblins? Am I really supposed to expect this kid to become Hobgoblin down the road, a few sequels from now? It almost feels like fanservice to give him that name, to make fans wonder what might happen in the future, while never actually delivering it.

Anyway, every announcement about this film just gets better and better. For example, it was announced that it would officially introduce Damage Control to the MCU. In the comics, Damage Control was a construction firm co-owned by Tony Stark and Wilson Fisk (The Kingpin) that was tasked with rebuilding NYC after superhero battles. It’s such a logical concept, but something that gets lost in the suspension of disbelief that comics require. I’ve loved every appearance of Damage Control, so it’s nice that we’ll finally get to see them onscreen. They were actually mentioned in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as a division of S.H.I.E.L.D. itself, so it’ll be interesting to see how the movie handles this.

Also, it was reported that Pepper Potts might be making her return to the MCU in the film. I tend to hate Gwyneth Paltrow, but I really like her take on Pepper, as she serves as a good match for Downey’s Stark. If this rumor pans out, I’ll be very happy.

At this point, the only thing I’m not looking forward to is The Vulture. I always thought he was a lame character, but here’s hoping Keaton can do something to make him interesting. I’m as eager for this film as I’m not eager for Justice League. I swear I’m not just some Marvel fanboy, as I’m currently reading more DC than Marvel. That said, Marvel simply makes better movies, and it appears this will be one of them. So, for those reasons, the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer had the West Week Ever.