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themusingsofafangirl · 4 years ago

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Tutor

Characters: V (DMC5) x Reader (Gender neutral)

Warnings: Mentions of drugs.

Word count: 1597 words.

Credits: all gif belongs rightfully to the creator.

ModernAU. High school.

V is assigned to mentor you by your teacher as you were falling behind in studies.

It’s half past 2 in the afternoon and you were sitting in the detention room staring outside the window feeling dead bored. Failing in school was not really a problem you cared so much about at the moment because you had other pressing matters to deal every day you leave the school grounds like how to make money to pay the bills and put food on the table for you and your younger sister. But the sob story of your broken family background was now a thing of the past and all you care about is how to survive. No one knows you lived the way you do. You did not have close friends but you were not so lonely either in school. You stand on the fence of isolation and popularity, dancing on it carefully ensuring you do not fall on either side for the sake of your sanity and protection.

“___” a voice calls your name.

You look up and notice your classmate V was standing in front of you with a bag on his shoulder. You wear an expressionless façade, rendering a nonchalant vibe about the whole mentor-mentee attempt of the academia saving you from failing in school. The boy then takes a seat in front of you and starts pulling out books and stationeries. You noticed the fingerless gloves in his hands and realising that he always wears them no matter what outfit he wore. You heard from other students that he wore them due to an accident and he was trying to hide his scars. He also almost never wore any outfit that was short sleeved. Your curiousness also tells you otherwise because you noticed a few black lines traced up to his fingertips. He has a tattoo, I bet for sure. You thought.

“We don’t have to do this, V” you said with arms crossed.

V pauses from flipping the pages of the textbooks and stares at you. Suddenly he lets out a scoff, “Do you think, I wanted this as well?” he says.

You grabbed your bag and stood up, “Well then we should just stop before we start and save ourselves time,” and turned to leave.

“Wait.” V grabs your wrist to stop you.

You look down at your hands and tried to pry them off from him, but he keeps them firm.

“You and I are one and the same. We don’t want to be here but we have to. If it’s too much to ask, let’s just pretend to have you study. They’re watching me.” V explains.

You scrutinised your eyes at first after hearing him say that. They’re watching me. What does he mean by that? You thought to yourself. You looked at V and noticed his eyes was signalling something; his eyes quickly looked to the right and you caught on. You looked to your right and noticed your homeroom teacher was watching you both from the door.

Yo, creepy much? You thought to yourself again.

��Okay Mr. Poet. Let’s play pretend. With my conditions. Firstly, you’ll tutor me like how you should. But I’m not going to give a damn about a word you say. Agreed?” you proposed to him.

He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. “AND!” you suddenly interrupted,

“You have to tell me, why is the academic board watching you.”

His mouth hung open when he heard this proposal as his brows began to form a knot in between his forehead. “Fine, ____. So long I can save myself from trouble.”

You both came to an agreement. The first lesson he tutored you was on World History. You let him rant on explaining to you about the Great Depression, and the Korean War while you were pretending to listen, you were doodling on your notebook and creating little sketches of things that comes to your mind randomly. Three weeks passed and V was still tutoring you. However, whenever the teachers from the Academic Board leaves the detention room both of you relaxed a little and drop the charade. During times like this, V and you would have a small chat on everything else except studies. You learnt a lot about him; his favourite music, season, his pet peeves and noticed that he was not too different than you at all. Though, one has been itching in your mind since the day he first tutored you,

They’re watching me

“V, you haven’t told me yet.” You spoke up. Your friend stopped whistling Claire de Lune and looked at you confused.

“Told you what?” he asked.

“Why they watching you for?”

He sat up straight and placed both his elbows on the table, his hands perched under his chin.

“Yours truly, is on the verge of expulsion.” He sighs.

“Expulsion? A kid like you? No way.” You replied.

“Yes. Well, I was framed that’s all I know,”

“Framed? By who?” you asked.

“I don’t know, but I was framed for supplying ‘the good stuff’ in school.” He answered. “Only your homeroom teacher believed I didn’t do such a thing.”

“Miss Fayeman?”

“Yup. So, she gathered all the members of the Academic Board and told them that if I manage to tutor you to pass this term, then it proves that I’m no dealer.” He added on.

You sat there confused and in disbelief that a man like him would do such a thing because based on your observation, you damn well knew that V would not go that low to do such a thing in school. He has his pride and his motivation to achieve and drugs were out of the question entirely.

“And that is why ____, I need you to pass this term.” he says quietly.

You felt guilty after hearing his plead; but you did not want to show him your emotions. You too had your pride and image to maintain so you just looked elsewhere instead of him.

“I have to go,” you said. You packed all your things and rushed out immediately after that. You knew that you were the weakest in your class in terms of academics but you felt ashamed that someone else with other problems was dragged into yours just to help you clean up your act. You were out of mood the entire day, so much so that your sister left you a piece of Twinkie in front of your door. After going through some thinking, you decided that you wanted to help V clean his name. You still put up with the charade after school hours with him when he tutors you under the watchful eyes of the teachers, but when you got back home, you would recall all that he explained and revise them again in your room – the constant burning of the midnight oil even put a strain on your shoulders and back from slouching at the study table too long.

Exam season came, and you were ready to ace everything. V doesn't say much on that day, but the look on his face somewhat shows that he did not expect too much from you. You still kept your act; pretending to be unbothered about studies. When the results came, your homeroom teacher called you and V into the office.

“My, my.” Miss Fayeman says. “Looks like no one is getting expelled.”

V and you shared the same expression of confusion.

“Here, look for yourself.” Miss Fayeman added and pushed a slip of paper towards the both of you from across her table. You both scooted closer to the table and eyed the results carefully. Every single one of the subjects either had an A- or A on it and lastly the commentary from the Principal down below wrote,

Extraordinary improvement. Congratulations. Keep it up.

When the both of you left Miss Fayeman’s office, you held onto your result sheet and bolted out of the school building leaving V behind. You did not know what to feel. You could not believe that you actually studied to save a friend of yours whom you suddenly had feelings for from expulsion.

“___, wait!” he shouted and chased after you.

You ran out of the school building and made your way to the football field. You climbed up the bleachers and just sat yourself there, gasping for air. Not knowing how to react to everything that just happened. V made his way to where you were too, panting for air in his frail looking body. The poet made his way up to where you sat and crashed on one of the seats beside you.

“Jesus.” He exclaims. “What is wrong with you?”

You were still panting, but a smile slowly grows on your face. You felt like you have won the lottery – but most importantly, you saved someone from being expelled.

“V,” you said.

“Yeah?” he answers still gasping for air and cooling down his pulse.

“Would you come with me to homecoming?” you suddenly proposed.

“W-wha-“

“Homecoming, silly. I want you to be my date.” You said.

“I- uh. Yeah sure,” he says wearing a look that leaves him so puzzled.

“You and I are one and the same, indeed.” You added.

You got up from the bleachers and wanted to walk away, but V stops you from doing so by holding your hand and turning you around to give you a kiss. This caught you by surprised but you guess that your feelings for him was valid and mutual. He lets go from the kiss, smiling as he says,

“Joy is my name, - Sweet joy befall thee.”

“Blake, oh, Blake,” you said and pulls him in for a kiss again.

#vitale #v #dmc5 #v x reader #vitale x reader #devil may cry #devilmaycry5 #dmcv #vdmc #oneshotwednesdays

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featuringthecreature · 4 years ago

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The Best and Worst Things About Each MCU Movie

These are all just my stinky opinions. You are allowed to disagree, you are allowed to agree. Most of these are jokes anyway. I’m honestly just happy you’re reading this. Minor Spoilers Ahead!

Iron Man (2008) -

Best: This movie almost perfectly sets the tone for the entire universe that has at that point yet to have been created. Looking back, you can imagine the feeling of “Where are they going to go from here?” and I think that’s one of the most important things that this movie needed to accomplish.

Worst: What the fuck is Jeff Bridges doing? What’s his endgame here? I get he’s trying to take over Stark Industries but how’s he gonna do that from inside that giant metal suit he uses to kill people inside their cars?

Incredible Hulk (2008) -

Best: Tim Roth is in it and I think that is pretty cool.

Worst: I haven’t actually seen it, but the cgi looks god awful, what the hell.

Iron Man 2 (2010) -

Best: Sam Rockwell is so goddamn annoying in this movie and I think that’s amazing, he’s such a little stinker.

Worst: I remember basically nothing else about this movie except some guy talking about birds, idk.

Thor (2011) -

Best: It introduces Loki, probably one of the most beloved villains in the entire franchise.

Worst: This movie is so goddamn boring and it’s my least favorite and I hate it. Don’t @ me.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) -

Best: The first good chunk of this movie is actually a really compelling character study on Steve Rogers and what makes him a good man. Seeing him basically being paraded as this propaganda figure and watching him struggle with this is one of the most compelling things about him as a person. Really wish they kept this up for the entire movie.

Worst: The red skull is really boring guys. He’s red, that’s it. Give me something else to work with man.

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) -

Best: This movie proved that you can have a superhero team up with this many people and have it fucking work. It doesn’t matter if you hate or love this movie, you cannot deny the effects it has on the genre.

Worst: It’s shot like a bad CW show. It looks so ugly.

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Best: This one is actually my favorite of the bunch. Exploring the question of what makes Iron Man, the suit or the person, is shown really well here. I thoroughly dig it.

Worst: That scene where Harley flip flops about whether or not he really knows Tony makes me so irrationally angry.

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Best: It’s slightly better than Thor, and I actually can feel myself start to have a good time whenever Loki’s on screen.

Worst: Once again, this movie is insanely forgettable. Christopher fucking Eccleston is in this movie and I could not tell you a single thing about this character.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) -

Best: This movie has one of the best hand-to-hand fight scenes in the entire MCU. You know the one I’m talking about. It gives me chills, I love it.

Worst: Having the government stand-in that Steve questions in the beginning of the movie actually be a front for N*zis that he can just beat up, and not an actual metaphor for the issues with the government today? You ain’t slick.

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014) -

Best: This is the mcu movie basically anyone can enjoy. Anybody can watch this movie and find something to love about it. The characters, the messages about family and learning to be okay with feeling love, the jokes, hell, even the space setting. THE MUSIC. It’s the full package baby.

Worst: Chris Pratt has an unfortunate cameo in this one.

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) -

Best: I have a couple of things. A) The party scene where we get to watch the Avengers talk and be friends with each other and act like people. B) I love James Spader no matter what he is doing.

Worst: Why is everyone quipping? Why is the robot quipping? Why would they massacre my boy like that?

Ant-man (2015) -

Best: I want Paul Rudd to marry me, best dad in the mcu.

Worst: The moment Edgar Wright left this project.

Captain America: Civil War (2016) -

Best: Introduces two great characters, Spider-man and Black Panther. These two get a lot of love when it comes to designing their characters in this movie and it makes me very happy.

Worst: It made the fandom very unhappy and I don’t like picking sides. It feels like watching your many parents get divorced for two hours.

Doctor Strange (2016) -

Best: The magic looks really fucking cool in this movie. Also, the ending with Dormammu is up there for one of my favorite endings of an mcu movie. Having Doctor Strange actually outsmart the villain instead of actually fighting him is endlessly more satisfying.

Worst: Could not tell you a thing else about this movie other than I heard Tilda Swinton plays a character that’s probably not supposed to be white.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) -

Best: Guys, I gotta come clean about something. I actually like this one better than Volume 1. I know, I know, a good majority of people do not feel this way, but I feel a lot more emotionally attached to the movie, and that’s mainly because of two characters: Yondu Udonta and Rocket Racoon. Rocket realizing that he’s an asshole but his found family still loves him gets me, man. I can’t help it. Helps that Ego is a great villain as well. Also the cinematography is some of the best in the mcu.

Worst: No Howard the Duck.

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) -

Best: I think the best thing about this movie is just the solidness of it all. No one part stands out as the best because most everything about this movie is pretty damn good. Michael Keaton will knock your socks off, go watch it.

Worst: Donald Glover is in it to tease a Miles Morales reveal, BUT NOTHING HAS HAPPENED ABOUT IT SINCE.

Thor: Ragnarok (2017) -

Best: Taika Waititi knows how to do shit right, lemme tell ya. Taking away Thor’s hammer from the beginning was probably one of the smartest choices in the movie, and this is a movie of smart choices.

Worst: Jeff Goldblum isn’t in it more.

Black Panther (2018) -

Best: Erik Killmonger is easily the best villain in a Marvel movie, and you can quote me on that. An amazing performance from Michael B. Jordan. It’s also the first Marvel movie I saw in theatres (I know, I was very late to the game)

Worst: Everett K. Ross is CIA propaganda and the last fight scene on the train tracks looks like shit.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018) -

Best: It’s really hard to sum up exactly what my thoughts are on this movie. I think one of the movie’s best qualities is the bigness of it. This movie feels huge, there’s a lot of different stuff to love here. If you like Wakanda, there’s a whole epic battle set in Wakanda. If you’re more a fan of the space stuff, we got a whole lotta space stuff. The best part of this movie is there’s probably gonna be something that everyone can enjoy packed in here.

Worst: I also think the bigness of this movie is also one of it’s larger weaknesses. Because there’s so much stuff in this movie, not all of it is fully fleshed out. Tony Stark gets a lot to do in this movie, but Steve Rogers sort of feels sidelined at parts. There’s a perfect balance that I don’t think was quite hit.

Ant-man and The Wasp (2018) -

Best: I still really love Paul Rudd in this movie, and I think his relationship with Cassie is still really cute. World’s Greatest Grandma indeed.

Worst: This movie really had its work cut out for itself, coming off the heels of Infinity War, so it sort of falls short in that respect. I don’t want to criticize it too harshly, it is what it is, nothing insanely memorable.

Captain Marvel (2019) -

Best: I still think this is a pretty good movie, despite what a lot of people think. I struggle a lot with believing that I have to prove myself to others, so having Carol finally realize that she doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone was really important to me, and probably a lot of other women.

Worst: There were parts where I wasn’t as engaged, like the scenes in the Kree empire. That made some of the movie feel off to me, it’s a bit unbalanced.

Avengers: Endgame (2019) -

Best: This movie 100% achieves what it sets out to do, and that is to be a huge cinematic event. I don’t even really see this movie as a movie, it’s more like one huge experience. My viewing had one of the most energetic crowds I’ve ever seen a movie with.

Worst: I don’t really think this movie holds up to multiple re-watches. Granted, I saw it in theatres three times. I don’t think any subsequent viewings are ever going to pack that same punch that my first viewing had, and that makes it harder to come back to. Also Steve had a totally lame ending.

Spider-man: Far From Home (2019) -

Best: After ending on such a downer note in the last movie, this felt like a weight being lifted off my chest. Jake Gyllenhaal gives an insanely energetic performance that I absolutely adore. (Also seeing it with my dad was fun, he would nudge me every time they switched locations to tell me he’d been there)(Also when I saw it with my sibling a kid ran out of the theatre during the Mysterio mind-fuck sequence, some just can’t handle that lifestyle)

Worst: Peter Parker and MJ remind me of how perpetually single I am.

#movie review #minor spoilers #mcu #marvel #marvel review

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ayankun · 3 years ago

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Got a lot done today, rewarding self with hsmtmts S1 (who am I kidding, this was going to happen regardless) just starting ep 3, thoughts that contain S2 spoilers below

It's not as awkwardly zany as I feared! I think its mockumentary style is certainly more stylized than it's become, but the jokes still land. Even though some of said jokes are based on their characters' archetypes rather than the people they're going to grow into. What can you do, it's only been an hour of runtime, everything's gonna be different by hour 10.

Gosh the kids are so young! But they're all doing so so so well. I've also now seen an hour or two of cast interviews, and the age differences of the actors is pretty wild. Like I think Frankie is one of the older ones, but for the first time I paid attention and found out Carlos is supposed to be a sophomore like Gina (but now it makes more sense that he's only just turning 16 lolololol)

I'm feeling really bad for Ricky, remembering that his home life troubles are specifically what are causing him to react and over-react and generally be a drama-maker on behalf of the plot. Like on one hand, it's such an interesting choice to have your leading man be the anti-hero of his own story, 'cause he hecks up ALL the time and is sometimes hard to root for, but taking a step back to observe that this is a fiction and everything is designed with intent, Ricky's character isn't really a hero or villain, he's a personification of a message, which is that sometimes you gotta dig deep and identify the root of your problems first before you can start applying beneficial solutions. And you might just keep hecking up until you get there. The stuff with his mom in 2x09 is sosososososo important and a long time coming, the character's going to have to be a different person going forward because he's finally been able to address some of his issues that have been festering since 1x01.

Semi-related, I'll always show up for a good redemption arc. Ricky, the hero, is going to need one! Nini might even get one (1000% I don't believe she needs one, keep self-actualizing, queen!), but anyway the S1 antagonist trio of EJ, Gina, and Mr. Mazzara is so fun/frustrating to watch, knowing that in S2 they're literally all going to become not just protagonists but also my favorite ones.

ALSO seeing evil!Gina and villainous!EJ interact keeps giving me chills. Those poor kids have NO IDEA what they're in for!!!!!

Similarly, Matt Cornett has grown on me a lot. Even first time through, I thought he was the weakest of the cast (lol he's the oldest, he's ridiculously old for that baby face) and just now in One Billion Sorrys I was like, isn't EJ supposed to be leading man material? Why is his performance so bad for comedy reasons? Oh... it's less comedy reasons and more Matt Cornett doing his best? Also why is he so white-washed this season! The makeup they've caked on him makes him look sickly. ANYWAY he's really come a long way, and especially with the stuff they've been giving him in S2, his scenes where EJ's successfully engaging with Gina as a human being are sosososo effective and I'm looking forward to getting back to that point.

Clocking some callbacks S2 has made to S1, like Kourtney talking to Nini about how she's avoiding talking to Ricky about something important and then Ricky comes up, or Nini needing to keep her phone out of the hands of her insecure clingy boyfriends so they don't jealously delete things. EDIT: just finished S1 and there was another major parallel I noticed but since noticing I have somehow forgotten :<<<<< OH COULD IT HAVE BEEN 1x08 is where Ricky and Nini rekindle things and 2x08 is where they call it quits????? (also Ricky getting earth-shattering home & family news on holidays and having to bottle it up b/c someone's on his doorstep and he has to perform Emotional Stability) (found another one, Miss Jenn's "Trust the process" vs Dean Patel's "Trust the outcome.") (Miss Jenn giving Nini a voice and YAC literally taking it away)

I guess also Ricky's mom problem and Nini's decision to put her dreams first were the inciting incidents for these two characters' arcs -- like, the narrative's inciting incident is "I think I kinda you know," and it plays out in the spaces where the Ricky/Nini romance storyline provides conflict for the success-of-the-show storyline, and vice versa, but the CHARACTERS' STORIES are about the mom thing and the dream thing, and are actually the root of all the interpersonal drama.

Not sure that I have a point, it's more of a comment of appreciation.

Another good thing about S2 is that it opens up to include more stories for the supporting cast, kinda like how HSM2 does and makes Ryan your favorite character. So even in retrospect, in S1 my faves are Gina and Mazzara and Seb & Carlos and Ashlyn, and Nini and Ricky are just Also There.

Different thought: my singular major complaint when I watched this the first time was that the show (accidentally? Due to unyielding adherence to the conventions of the genre?) uniformly conflates personal success with romantic success. As in, you know you've finally achieved your dream when you are handed a SO as a trophy. The sole SOLE exception to this in S1 is Kourtney, and look how that's played out in S2. :/ especially since one of my favorite favorite things was Start of Something New recast as Nini's romance-free self-actualization ballad, I really thought that was a premise that would make an appearance s o m e w h e r e in the show. SO IM SO HAPPY THAT'S FINALLY PAID OFF FOR NINI. LIKE IN 2x09 WHERE RICKY'S DROWNING IN HIS UNSHED TEARS AND THEN IT CUTS TO NINI SCROLLING COMMENTS IN HER INSTAGRAM HOLY SHIT. There's a read where she's the bitch or whatever for not being as broken up as Ricky is, but gurrrrrrl this has been her true character aim since day one!!! Her story is not! About! RICKY!!!!!

(I wanted my ace!Taylor HC to magically transfer into Kourtney, whose canon feminist self-affirming character core might prevent her from getting roped into a romance storyline. Like I don't want to begrudge a character a romance plot if that's what the character wants, but GOSH wouldn't it have been cool if this rom-com genre could find room to accommodate aspec stories. ALSO where my trans teens at!!! Fingers crossed, S3.)

In conclusion, I identify with Mazzara what with his autism and his robots and his AV club and his green gingham button-up that I also have; I love love love his look of consternation with himself when he sends that email. 10/10. But also, if we were in high school, I'd have been a grade ahead of his actor sooooo guess that means I'm just a crusty old grandpa

(Started writing this going into ep 3, now I'm headed into ep 6 lololol. HOMECOMING SEBLOS AND DONT WANT NO SCRUBS KOURTNEY CASTLES IN THE SKY MY BELOVEDS)

#hsmtmts #aya's hyperfixated

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andsoshespins · 4 years ago

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Across the (MC) Universe

This weekend, I finally concluded my journey through the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it exists currently with the ending of Spiderman: Far From Home. I commenced working towards this arbitrary goal on Labor Day weekend with Iron Man. I had always had a vague and distant desire to participate in some way in this pop culture phenomenon and remind myself how much I do appreciate superhero stories, a fact I often neglect. But I knew I needed to do it the right way from the start. What better time than the present?

Strangely--or maybe appropriately?-- this world of fantasy grounded me in a lot of ways. On the eve of beginning a tumultuous, in-person school year in the midst of a pandemic, this mini-challenge I posed to myself gave me a bit of structure for self-care as well as a little cinematic escape into the worlds of fiction. Watching the defeat of evil forces during a time of such struggle with health and sanity was cathartic and hopeful in some ways. Highlighting the most cherished qualities of the characters battling not just the world but each other and themselves builds a bridge from human to hero, just as noting the flaws and their impacts does. Seeing parts of yourself onscreen in larger-than-life characters, wondering what constitutes heroism, and contemplating parallels of class, privilege, ability, and oversight in your own life are all part of this viewing by an active mind. Thinking about alternate worlds and multiverses while this current one is so abnormal to what anyone alive knows was also a welcome reprieve.

I pretty much succeeded in achieving the objective of viewing an average of one movie each week, with some anomalies, of course. Since this has been a (worthy) time-consuming achievement, I am obviously going to spend some time reflecting on it. Spoilers ahead! (In case anyone actually reads this even if it really is just for me. And has taken as long to visit the MCU as me.)

Note: I know very little about the actual comics on which these are based aside from the information fed to me by my friends and family who read, collect, and treasure them.

Favorite Films

I really enjoyed all the actual Avengers movies. Maybe I am a sucker for teamwork and people playing their strengths and balancing each other’s weaknesses for a greater good kind of storyline. Maybe I enjoyed the classic superhero/comic book cheesiness of all these enormous characters bulldozing through, saving the world from evil.

While Captain America is not my favorite hero, my favorite movies as movies themselves have belonged to Cap. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is SUCH a great film on its own merits and even if it were not vital to the entire storyline.

If I had to rank my top 5 of the 20-something, they would go something like this:

Avengers: Endgame

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Spiderman: Homecoming

Avengers: Infinity War

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Honorable Mentions: I have a soft spot for Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 1 as well. I know, I said “Top 5.″ But if I had a MySpace, I’d be one short...and add Black Panther.

Favorite Teams

Black Widow and Captain America

My draw to this pairing is most likely due to my appreciation for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But I think their partnership throughout the rest of the series (Can I call something as large as the MCU that?) is very...lovely? There is a mutual respect and understanding that was not easily given/taken at first, and they end up on fiercely opposing sides at least once. I have always wanted more on Natasha’s past; I was fascinated by what little snippets we do receive as an audience. (Which means I am indeed excited for her own upcoming movie!)

I also think that this duo represents an interesting contrast of clichéd storylines: She, the spy/assassin from the Soviet Union and he, the loyal, patriotic-to-a-fault American boy out to fight the Nazis. I think there is an interesting romanticizing that comes with these tropes of World War II and Cold War era fiction, and so I am always up for riding the waves of how these modern versions play out and/or into the old. I also think that Black Widow’s nebulous and possibly morally questionable past contrasts neatly with the Captain’s upfront consistency and more black-and-white views on the world (at least at first; I know he develops the nuances); but the fact that they can work together so well is terrific to me, even when they disagree. I also like the balance of the personal and professional with these two characters, and I find that important.

Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner

I know a lot of people enjoy intense fight scenes, and epic battles pump the adrenaline into an average viewer; but the thrills I get from watching and listening to the scientific collaboration (and clashing) between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner rise above the physical combat for me. I am also forever a fierce admirer of the screens of blueprints and prototypes suspended in midair and moved around by the touch of a finger in the planning and testing phases. I have no idea why this is such a beautiful aesthetic in my brain. I think the science paired with the more raw passion for the responsibilities Stark and Banner both have for good makes for a neat balance in the superhero world. I think these moments are pivotal in leveraging powers and technology (Hulkbuster suit, anyone?) and sending the message of thoughtfulness and precision even if it is experimental in nature. In addition, I think Tony’s mile-a-minute thinking, impulsivity, and pride are a neat contrast to more mild-mannered Bruce. (Right, the gorgeous irony of the Hulk?). I also think that having technology and science as a foundation helps ground everyone in the problem-solving process. It’s not all smashing the bad guys; there is a need for intention, strategy, and back-ups. The underlying truth of finding a partner in this shared pursuit rather than remaining in a version of isolation brought upon by their brilliance, that Stark and Banner have felt and manifested--albeit in nearly opposite ways--as younger men feels important to me.

Favorite Superheroes and Arcs

This might be the toughest one to decide because I really do appreciate all of these evil-fighting men and women for various reasons and with different shades. So I am not going to overthink it too much: My gut tells me Iron Man and Spiderman are my favorite heroes, and few things have contradicted this through the nearly two dozen films I watched.

In my opinion, the character arc for Tony Stark (Tony St-arc?) is the best for a number of reasons. His cocky beginnings are humbled in that first movie when he realizes the potential for evil in his own Stark technology. His awareness grows, more empathy develops, and therefore the desire to correct (and sometimes maybe overcorrect?) is born and fuels, well, pretty much everything. There is an admirable quality to that taking control in a different way, to spin the world better because you have the resources to do so. Yes, perhaps there is some pride at work (Do the ends justify the means? Aren’t the best real and fictional heroes most often also victims of hubris?). Making Tony just unlikable enough to point out what is problematic about his character, but never enough to make him unrelatable and dismiss him is SUCH a mark of character craftsmanship. I am in awe of that balance that is struck. I think his return even after he has a family and much more to lose than ever before in a lot of ways, could be motivated by either ego or basic good. And I think the richness of dissection of Tony Stark’s character that can be done is what puts him at the forefront for me, even before his final act.

Spiderman has always been one of the few superheroes with whom I was familiar, so I was excited to experience this version of the character and events. I think the teenage truth to his character is so well-played. I think that his energy paired with his intelligence and scientific pursuits make for one of the most likable and also pretty well-rounded characters. You can see the passion burning through and recognize how much Peter Parker and Spiderman still have to learn about the responsibility he has. I think the movies featuring Spiderman do a good job of realistically balancing his role in vastly different worlds, and the weight of all those roles. I am looking forward to more about him.

I also do truly appreciate Thor’s character arc across his films and those of the Avengers,’ and I believe his is worth mentioning. One of my favorite little monologues of the whole ride through MCU thusfar has been Thor’s meditation in Avengers: Infinity War on his loss of loved ones, the perspective of a god, time, fate, vengeance, and motivation. His willingness and strength to forge that new weapon with star power coursing through him is quite literally the stuff heroes are made of. And to remember that he began his journey as a privileged prince of snark and above reproach makes it all the more satisfying. I do think there is an interesting humanizing that eventually happens with Thor by the end of Infinity War. It is difficult for me to laugh at his pot-belly and beer-drinking because it seems gratuitous and placed in the film just for comedy while, in actuality, it points to something much more sinister and serious. I feel like there is a slightly missed mark here, because there is honesty in the devastation he must have experienced/is still is experiencing. I find it challenging to relate to Thor; and personally, I feel the representation swings too far, in opposing directions, and has not hit the believable middle section yet. But that does not mean I do not appreciate his growth.

As for the others: Captain America has a great story, and is made of stuff stronger than any super-soldier serum could ever fill him with. Moral fiber and that compass forever pointed due North, he is nearly god-like, or as much as a human can be. But I think that is also part of why I cannot relate to him as well. He is almost “too good” which then begs the questions: Who do we emulate? Who do we place on pedestals? What are your flaws, Cap? I know his character does wade through nuances especially in Civil War and Infinity War. The oft-quoted lines about not asking for forgiveness or permission are telling of the change occurring within him while he remains steadfast in every other way. I am entirely satisfied with his consistency and happy with the way his story is concluded. And I do appreciate his humble beginnings and his own “not throwing away his shot” devotion. But he feels like a larger-than-life figure looming over the ordinary.

I want more backstory for Black Widow and Hawkeye, which makes sense as their solo stories have not yet been released. Everyone wants to know what happened in Budapest, right?

I am slightly disappointed in the way Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk develops (or does not?) towards the end of what we have thusfar seen in the MCU. I think the potential to move forward with his storyline somewhat fizzled with the “Professor Hulk” I am still not sure I quite understand. I have also always wanted more insight into this man; I always love the internal struggle almost more than the outer one. But I do have a soft-spot for the duality of this character.

I also know that the characters introduced “later” to whom I do not feel as strong as an attachment will be explored in other shows or movies, so I look forward to more about the Scarlet Witch, Vision, Dr. Strange, Loki, Captain Marvel, Falcon, and The Winter Soldier himself.

Evergreen Lessons

I know that all of these probably deserve their own post, but I will just list them here:

Your greatest strengths can also turn or be turned against you as your greatest flaws.

Nothing is ever black-and-white.

Technology and power are neutral; how they are used determines their role in good and evil.

The discussion about surveillance and freedom is a perennially fraught one.

Everything is about love.

---

I will probably rewatch some, if not all, of these movies and my opinions may change. I will also probably write some more as thoughts come to me, but this might be sufficient for now. I have accomplished something big, if whimsical and inconsequential in the grand scheme of life, in these last few months.

In conclusion, this has been a fun journey during a strange time. And I will be honest is saying that I am excited to be up-to-date to enjoy the Marvel-related shows and upcoming films with the rest of the world and not a dozen years delayed.

#mcu #marvel #movies #fun #superheroes #fight the good fight

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constantlyirksome · 5 years ago

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Spider-Man Far From Home: The Peter Tingle. (Spoiler Review)

With a movie as massive and influential as Avengers: Endgame ends like that you have to what the ramifications are when half the universe blips back into existence. Probably just as impactful and difficult as having them disappear in the first place. Luckily the first MCU film since then tackles these questions almost immediately. People who didn’t dust didn’t age; the people who remained aged five years, meaning the structure of high school would be completely different. And Spider-Man far from home, that feels like the most important thing, and it was great.

Scaled back a thousandfold from the blockbuster spectacle of the fourth Avengers film. The Spider-Man sequel spends a great amount of its time on the emotions and social lives of its lead, Peter, MJ and Ned in a truly sweet high school drama. We get reminded time and time again that despite being a space hero Peter Parker is still a sixteen-year-old kid. The focus was on high school crushes and the expectations around growing up, and it was fun! I wanted Peter to be able to take a break, kiss a girl, enjoy the sights! It was a foil that seemed equally trivial and appropriate.

Unlike its predecessor, Homecoming, the action seemed to actually matter. As the asshole Mysterio would say, it was avengers-scale carnage even if it was fabricated. The most glaring question is, why would Nick Fury, master tactician, pick a sixteen-year-old on a field trip to deal with giant elemental monsters? He’s super strong, incredibly smart, and has some nifty gadgets, but synthetic spider webs do dick all against a monster that is %100 water. Even with Strongest Avengers Thor, Carol and Strange off world, there are like fifty un-blipped avengers who would be better equipped. The whole movie I was thinking, “Scarlett Witch could handle this in an afternoon. Even if the monsters were real she would be perfectly suited to contain the damage. And I get that she’s moved to Disney channel or whatever, but questions like this greatly affected my enjoyment of the movie. The explanation in the post-credits scene came too late.

It also made me wonder, “Hey, why is Nick Fury being such an insufferable jackass? Picking on an emotionally damaged child, who just lost his, like, billionth parental figure. He’s usually no-nonsense but he knows when to cut people slack. So realizing it was actually Talos, an alien with zero people skills, was a good aha moment. I loved Talos in Captain Marvel, so to see he wouldn’t be backbenched like all the other inconsequential villains was nice. Seriously tho, it might help with Marvel's villain problem if their arcs were built up over multiple movies, like Loki. I’m still exceedingly bitter over Killmonger. Killing the villains off right away is a waste, and I thought this as Mysterio kicked it. He was such a crafty, cool villain.

His grafter antics matched up pretty well with his first comic appearances. Create mystique with gadgets and tricks, come up smelling like roses, gets his ass kicked. His dream/holograph sequence as he gave his Villain Speech to a confused peter was visually stunning and weird. Giant snow globes, spider-clones, a dead Tony Stark, it was an ingenious nightmare. The fact his final form was a VFX suit was hilarious. They could have used him more. His costume was also awesome and considering the source material thats an incredible achievement. (Props also for spider-man’s two suits. The stealth suit ws particularly awesome/ sexy on Tom Holland.)

Jake Gyllenhall was believable as both a heroic rogue and a dastardly psycho. But his motivation? Weak ass. “Oh nooo Tony Stark used my gadget for self-improvement and therapy instead of weaponizing it, now I’m going to straight-up murder some children.” And what is he like, he fiftieth character with that origin? Weak. Foolish. Boring. However Jake Gyllenhall was both believable as a heroic rogue and a maniac, so it was easy to gloss over.

Tom Holland was the emotional center of the film tho, serving us roguish charm, incredible vulnerability and superhero swagger in one adorable package. When he cries you want to murder those who would do him harm, such is his power. Seeing Spider-Man sort of don the Iron Man mantle while also doing his own thing with it, deciding what he’s capable of, what kind of path he wants to take was some satisfying character development. Seeing him build a suit from scratch, or sass Happy Hogan was delightful. Hopefully, the director gets his way and we get Kraven the Hunter as the next villain so we can see Spider-Man fight some rhinos or whatever.

Before that, he has to deal with being falsely accused as a war criminal and no longer having a secret identity (that at least he can deal with literally no heroes in the MCU have alter-egos they all just walk in their costumes, no mask.) With the two post-credits scenes we end up feeling the same we do before the movie starts, lost and unsure where the MCU could possibly go from here. What’s Fury up to? (is he creating S.W.O.R.D?) who knows, we don’t even know what the next movie will be. But Far From Home sort of acts as a perfect palate cleanser to all the crossovers and universe level threats. It’s just about a boy in high school, and that’s perfectly fine for now.

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alitheamateur · 6 years ago

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Birthday Boy Bob

This one is for my dear friend, @torialeysha who requested some smutty Bob Saginowski action. (Who could blame her?) This guy, this guy, this guy. Let me tell ya’! Bobby boy here, has by far been my toughest encounter! I hope it’s up to your standards, you genius!

Characters: Bob Saginowski/Reader

Warnings: NSFW. Explicit Sexual Content. Language. A bit of angst. A touch of fluff.

Word Count: 4,742

“You really did not have to do alla this, Y/N. But, I truly appreciate it.”

“You deserve some fun, Bobby boy. So, you can thank me by having a drink. Or ten.” You winked, bopping the end of his nose with your fingertip.

Bob Saginowski had been your boss for going on two years now. You, being the barmaid at his local treasure in the heart of Brooklyn, had developed quite the mysterious relationship with him. There was no figuring Bob out, though. He was an impossible enigma that Sherlock himself couldn’t crack open with his most impressive skills, so there was no way you’d get him down pat. He was frustratingly literal, unobvious with his dangerous intelligence, and the holy grail of secrets. But as of late, your subtle glances had been reciprocated, and his claiming accidental skims of your skin when he’d squeeze close to you behind the bar were becoming much more recurrent.

He worked himself day and night, and you wondered concerningly if he ever even slept at night. He had paid his debts, and was now sole owner of “Bob’s Bar” which lengthened his daily ‘to-do’ list, that also consisted of tending to his loyal companion, Rocco. In your eyes, he deserved a hefty dose of fun and unwinding (as much as a person like Bob could unwind), and his 37th birthday opened the door to help you make that very goal achievable. So, your plan was set into action, and had unfolded without a hitch. So you thought, at least…

“Cheers, ol’ boy! This ones for you, Bob!” One of the most frequent stool warmers at the bar stuttered between drunken hiccups, raising up the third tequila past his limit.

The usual present pondering lines of Bob’s forehead seemed even more troubled suddenly, as the two of you stood chatting behind the bar top. You tossed your ashy blonde hair over your shoulder to turn and investigate the ringing bell that notified an entry. The eyes you looked into made you instantly squeamish, and all hopeful opportunities you’d envisioned ensuing with the object of your secret affections fizzled out. Nadia, the only ex you were ever aware of from Bob’s relationship endeavors, just had to show her unwelcomed face tonight, of all nights.

“Hey, birthday boy!” She screeched, waving the deflating ‘happy birthday’ balloon she had tied to her finger.

Nadia had tossed him into the trash, leaving him in the condition much like he had found Rocco inside her trash can a few years ago. No rhyme, or reason behind her flighty exit had been heard on the streets, and she hadn’t been seen since last fall. Her unexplained bow out had granted you a job, and a confused and wounded Bob to look after, so you were thankful in all honesty for her disappearance. It was her reappearance however, that had you squirming and insecure.

“Uhh, yeah. Hel… Hi, Nadia,” Bob apprehensively greeted the ghost of his past, and leaned on the chipping wood of the counter to steady his shaken balance. “Where um.. where you been?”

The subdued tenor of his answer angered you to dangerous heights, and your conscious nagged you to spit venomous curses and toss her out on her smug ass since Bob obviously didn’t have the stomach to do it himself. But, it wasn’t your place to do so, and if you were being truthful, you saw her unforeseen return as a chance to decipher whether Bob was truly over what they had shared.

“You know, just here and there.”

Here and there?! That’s all she had for him? The utterly heartless and ignorance of her explanation had your head swimming, and your spiteful tongue could no longer be controlled.

“Bob! Let’s open your gifts, okay? Rocco keeps sniffing the bags in the corner. He’s trying to hurry you up!”

You couldn’t stand idly and twiddle your anxious fingers as she entranced him deeper into her silky web of manipulation and pitiful lies.

You brashly grabbed his hand into yours, and the heavy clogging of his worn boots echoed behind you careful not to stomp on a following Rocco yipping at your feet. Nadia cornered herself in a booth near the cake you had bought with your own earnings, and you smiled despicably to yourself when none of the party guests fawned over her homecoming. These were your customers as much as Bobs’, and they had whispered teasing remarks about seeing how the two of you were always blushing and flirting as you danced around each other behind the bar on a hectic night of business. Nadia’s departure had granted her top rank on the blacklist, and the attendees of Bob’s Bar had made their stance obvious.

You held the growing pup in your arms, and smiled admiringly at the gawky excitements Bob attempted to show to his company. A party full of guests, all in one room to celebrate and dote over Bob was probably the closest thing to a nightmare in real time for him, and you began to wonder if the whole gesture was a colossal, incurable mistake. But, the quirky, barely perceptible half-smiles he snuck between gifts warmed you with reassurance. When he lifted the last perfectly creased corners of a package, tucked purposely by you behind all the others, he looked instantly to you when it was missing the gift-tag he examined it for.

“That one’s from Rocco and me. He even wrapped it himself.” Bobs’ endearing, single wonky tooth appeared suddenly, as your playful, pitiful excuse for a joke made him almost audibly laugh. It could’ve been construed as honest laughter, or a result of the flow of alcohol you’d insisted he intake, and let loose.

The protruding line of a vein tensed and shifted in his forearm from beneath the rolled sleeves of his flannel as he tore the paper casually in front of the room. It was a photo taken on New Year’s Eve night at the bar several months ago that you had printed from your phone, of the pair of you decked in stupid ‘happy new year’ sequined tiaras, and silly Rocco smooshed between your heads with his panting tongue hanging out. That particular night had been the nearest Bob had come to finally biting the bullet and kissing you when the new year struck on the clock. You giggled recollecting how all eyes in the room immediately shifted to the two of you when the ball dropped to see if either of you would make the much-anticipated move. When his lips never moved, you instead settled on pecking him lingeringly to his scruffy cheek.

“Look at that. That’s real nice! Thank you, really. Rocco, you too, buddy. But, I think imma give Y/N all the credit. No hard feelings.”

“You’re welco-“

“Oh my God, do you remember our first New Year’s Eve with Rocco?! He was snoring under the bar all night, then when everyone yelled at midnight, he got so scared and nearly jumped up your leg, Bob.”

Apparently, your particular birthday gift to the man in question had struck the attention of one unwelcome, obnoxious party guest who just had to jump in rudely with her pointless two-cents. You weren’t born yesterday, and neither was the interrupting ex-girlfriend of his who could see the flirtatious manner bouncing back and forth between yourself, and the man Nadia had clearly come back into town for.

“Yeah. Yeah, I do rememba that. He uh, he still ain’t a fan of real loud noises either. You know, like sirens and stuff.”

Bob swiveled in his chair to actually civilly converse with her, literally and figuratively turning his back on you. Maybe friends would be a line never crossed between you and Bob Saginowski as long as Nadia’s chilly presence loomed close by. But besides the hopes of a relationship between the two of you squandered, you feared your position as bartender would be dismissed as well if she swindled her way back into his life, and his bed successfully.

You turned the pup loose from your arms to roam the room, and drug your feet back behind the counter to refill drinks, and maybe sneak a swig or two of your own liquid courage. Closing time and last call would be arriving shortly, so you combed your hair back into a high ponytail, and pulled off your olive-green utility jacket to prepare for clean-up. No one had cut that cake, but since Nadia wanted to be the center of attention tonight, she could handle it. You were checked out, and ready to crash into bed with too many glasses of wine.

As you reached for the damp rag to wipe the counter of sticky remnants of spilled drinks, Johnny, a devoted customer and a bit of a watchful eye over the place if Bob ever had to leave you to handle things so he could run errands, snapped you from your thoughts.

“Hey, don’t chu throw in the towel. Alla us are countin’ on you to keep Bobby boy away from that little she-devil.” He whispered and nodded his head in the direction of the female snake petting on Rocco after rattling the ice cubes in his empty tumbler of bourbon.

“Seems no one can replace her, John. You saw it! It’s like I just left the room once she started to talk to him. They have history, I guess. I can’t compete. And I won’t either.”

“Nobody said it was a competition, Y/N. But, this is Brooklyn, honey. You gotta fight for whatcha want sometimes.”

………………..

“Alright, alright! Take the cake and get out of here, you goon!” You kindly teased with the last guest who wouldn’t take the order of leaving until you sent him home with the last two slices of the chocolate cake.

Rocco was snoozing under the pool table, avoiding the drunk hugs, and repetitive loop of a horrendous ‘happy birthday’ song being sung as the party goers lined out the door to head home for the evening. Bob ushered them out one by one, calling cabs for the few who he knew would wind up passing out on the sidewalk before they reached their own doorstep 5 blocks from the bar. It appeared only him, and yourself were left to lock up, and you were building up a bubble of nerve to confront him about Nadia, when you heard the gentle thud of a bathroom door closing down the hall.

She had already showed up like an unannounced gypsy to crash the party you had thrown for him, but that wasn’t enough to suffice. She had hung around, probably listening from the stall of the toilet, to wait for the room to clear so she could have some alone time to seal the deal. Bob looked to her, as did you, as she sheepishly approached the exit. Her ‘poor pitiful me’ charade was far from authentic, and you prayed silently and fervently that silly Bob would see right through her acting.

“I guess I’ll head out then…”

She looked to Bob, who then looked to you, who stared intently at Nadia.

“You could walk me home.. If it’s not too much trouble?”

That was it. The nail in your coffin. When he didn’t deny her instantly, you accepted you’d never hold the title of Bob’s girl, or Rocco’s dog-mom, and Nadia still compelled him beyond any way that you had.

“Go head, Bob. I’ll lock up.” You plastered on a brave, quite unconvincing smile as you rinsed and dried the last few glasses to shelf before you could head out.

“Are you sure? You already done so much tonight, I hate to ask.” Bob’s shifty eyes examined you seeking whether you were truly okay with him leaving you to handle the close up.

“She’s got it, Bob. I’m sure she’s closed alone before, right? It is your birthday, after all.”

Before you even had a second to object, Nadia interjected to make sure you didn’t. She had already awoken Rocco who was yawning and dazed in the cradle of her arms, and all but shoving Bob out into the night air with her. He turned to wave goodbye, and mouthed a ‘thank you’, to which you chose not to acknowledge much. The silence of the room, aside from the humming of the ice machine made you paranoid with confusion, and shame. You assured yourself that you had taken your shot, it just wasn’t meant to be. But, had you really? Was the man completely uninterested in you, or had he just in typical Bob fashion, been too bashful and timid to show you he really did have desirable feelings for you? You couldn’t place all fault on him, when you had done little to reveal how you felt towards him.

The unwavering, worrisome flow of ‘what ifs’ clouding your thoughts had passed the time substantially as you finished off the final items on your closing to-do list. Reaching down to unplug the stringy cord of the last neon sign glowing in the dingy store-front glass, you heard the chattering metal of a door handle being opened. Your body stiffened in paralyzing fright, and you ceased breathing to remain as still, and undetected as possible.

Thankfully, it was the familiar Bob and Rocco who swept inside the now dark shadows of the empty building, missing the third party they had left with short of a half hour ago.

“You scared the hell outta me, Bob!” You cupped your hands over your mouth and the sweaty palms stuck to your lips.

“I’m uh… yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I was gonna call but…”

“What’d you forget? I’m all done here. I was heading out in a sec, actually. Where’s uh… Where’s Nadia?”

Walking towards to the stool to gather up the purse and jacket you had sat there moments ago, you felt a masculine hand fall onto your shoulder.

“I called her a cab…”

Turning yourself in a half circle so you could meet him face to face, and tip-toe into whatever waters the conversation was leading next, you gulped a heavy knot of surprise seeing him remove the scratchy wool-lined vest he always wore when the seasonal temperatures started steadily declining into winter. Your own coat was draped over your wrist, but looking silently into your eyes, Bob removed it. Tossing it, along with your purse, and his own discarded outer-layer back onto the seat you once had placed it.

“I told her not to be comin’ around here again. And that this wasn’t her place anymore.”

Intently, your watchful stares followed him as he shooed Rocco into the storage room he was usually kept on busy nights, next traveling over to the large glass window that looked into the street and easing down the plastic shade. Like a dimmer, it eliminated the entering glow from the luminescent streetlight near your parked car, and only the lit-up handles of the beer taps, and mini-fridge tucked under the stock shelves allowed you minimal vision of Bob’s eerily calm features. Working with him nearly every calendar day for countless months now, you had grown naturally enamored by the anomaly of his disposition. But his calculated steps, sure actions, and silent planning were a far cry from his usually peculiar behavior. Should you be afraid? Leary or standoffish? Probably. But you were only allured, and aroused to say the least.

The lack of conversation made your ears squeal. Should you say something? Shouldn’t he? What’s happening here? A plethora of scenarios all played out one-by-one in your head, but you were clueless at the thoughts crossing through his. He was the farthest thing from an open-book, and he wasn’t exactly dropping red flags. That is, until he raised one thick finger to brush the line of your glowing, alabaster skin peeking from the hem of your tank top. You closed your eyes, and sharply inhaled between gritted teeth savoring the unmistakable insinuation of his actions now, and the ones to follow.

One by one, each plastic button that fastened your black, plaid flannel was tauntingly opening at the cautious, yet purposeful hands of Bob. He seemed to stare laser beams of tantric desires straight through your pupils, and you couldn’t turn your focus from the slow-growing bulge between his legs.

“Take if off for me, Y/N. I’d like to watch you if tha’s alright.” He petted down the side of your arm, and as his spoke the wind of his heated exhales blew the stray hairs from your face. You couldn’t tell by the slithering octave of his words whether he was requesting, or darkly demanding you to remove your unlined, lace bra. But you obliged keenly, and Bob grunted sexually as your breasts toppled free.

You then saw Bob Saginowski move more abruptly, and scattered than he ever had shedding his own shirt, and unlatching this jeans. He didn’t hesitate, didn’t overthink the matter, he just threw his usual caution to the wind. And for the first time, your eyes beheld the uncovered treasure that lie beneath the clothed surface. He was so broad, and uncannily built like a sturdy wall that was graffitied with an array of black markings across the span of his torso. The heated desire you’d built up for him in the last year crawled like a paranormal, starving demon from somewhere deep in your core, and you sprung at him with a lustful kiss.

Expecting him to politely protest, or pump the proverbial breaks on your fierce attack on his mouth, you were pleasantly surprised when he began to fiddle with the zipper on your light-shaded jeans. His tongue danced carelessly and gracefully like a practiced waltz with your own, and you let your hands wander over his tight chest sprinkled with hair. Once he pulled your pants, along with your silky underwear over your ankles, you gasped when he palmed your exposed cheeks with both of his masculine, worked fingers. He was dominating you in the most elusive, and well-mannered way and your body ached for more. Quickly, your feet separated from the recently mopped floor, and you were planted on top of the chilly countertop where you served drinks every day. Bob positioned himself slightly between your legs, and his fingers danced friskily near your uncovered center. You’d never look at Lucky Larry’s stool the same way again.

“Spread your legs, Y/N. Lemme see if you taste as good as you always smell when you’re behind the bar with me every night.”

You couldn’t control the subconscious pink that painted your cheeks at the provocative, explicit way he had spoken to you. The heat in the room, of his breaths, and of your own temperature climbed unsubstantially with each passing second, and there was no telling what heights your explosive orgasm would reach tonight as he knelt eye-to-eye with your sex. He pulled your legs possessively forward, dangling them over the hump of his shoulder and nipping skin sporadically between his teeth along his journey up to your swelling bud. There was an intangible exhilaration at the sight of Bob abandoning his submissive mantra and passionately taking you. Your manicured toes curled in exotic elation due to the audaciously close proximity his mouth came to you, and the almost villainous demeanor of that shadowy smile floating across his face as he kissed your lowest lips. You found irony in the fact that you’d only seen Bob smile a very few amount of times in your presence, but now his teeth were gleaming upon the introduction with your sexually tamed flower. Your partner body count was a mild number, but you didn’t feel pressured or an inexperienced fear in his hands. Something in your brain concluded that Bob hadn’t allowed many women in his bed considering his sealed off personality, so you wouldn’t be just another notch.

The gruff friction of his beard chaffing the sensitive crook of your thighs, only added a heightened level of pleasure to the simple, generous lashings of his tongue. The sounds of sucklings, and humming, along with the drooping of his pleasure filled eyes tortured you with euphoria. Your mind told you to cry out like a mangy wolf to the hazy moon as Bob pleaded forth your release, but you couldn’t help but succumb to the irresistible need to watch his heart-shaped lips feasting down below.

“I’m almost there… Just… just a little more.”

“Beg, Y/N. Tell me you need me to finish you off. Tell me you need me to make you come.”

He had been hiding this marvelous, politely dominating, sexual prowess somewhere deep in the valley of his complex mind, and apparently it needed a gasping breath of the light of day. The compiled list of scripts in your mind hadn’t prepared for you a turn of events like this. Expecting to take the reins, and lead his doe-eyes where to go next had been how most of the set-ups played out, but you were more than happy to obey under his commands.

“I need you, Bob. I need you to… I just need you. Please!”

You felt any second you’d spill out into his cavernous mouth and stain the bar underneath your now numbing bum, but upon your groveling admissions of want, the bull-necked man indulging in his own private dine-in ceased instantly. His rearranging of your bodies came swift and smooth as you found yourself straddling his generously sized lap. His finger trialed down the soft line of your nose, then in slow motion grazed the inside of your wet bottom lip, and moved to admire the locket you wore dangling just above the cavity between your breasts. You were thankful for the recognizable tenderness you found waiting in his eyes amongst the welcomed, new traits of boldness you’d discovered as well. He seemed now to be even more perfectly rounded and suited to be the man you longed to be next to.

“Is this okay wi’ you? You’re sure? ‘Cause you know, I don’t wanna do anythin’ you ain’t-“

“Bob, shhh. It’s more than okay. I want this so much.”

“Good, ‘cause I do too. Very much, actually. You uh.. you stay just like that and let me take care a’ you.” He nodded insistently while fondling your rosy nipple.

“You’re the boss, handsome?”

“Whatwas ‘at?” Bob froze, and a cool wind seemed to course through your veins at the light, dangerous manner of his question.

“I said… I said, you’re the boss,” you gulped.

“Oh I, I uh… I heard you, baby. I just like hearing it roll off those pretty little lips. You wanna see the boss, do ya’?” He chirped salaciously and pulled down the hair band tying back your wavy locks, and fisted it around his knuckles.

“I think so. It’s of dire importance that I speak with him. You see, I’ve been having these terribly hot, inappropriate dreams about him, and I think we should discuss it.”

“Wow… Uh.. well, you’re right. We might have to do something about that, because I believe he may be having those same dirty, dirty thoughts about you, too.”

As a exclamation to this stemming role play the two of you had going, Bob heartily thrusted his strong hips upward to attack your insides with his manly member. The feel of him pumping inside of you tingled your organs with electricity, and heat. You grabbed the nape of his neck as he held tightly onto yours, and rode the seated man in the creaking barstool like a bucking mare. There was a build up of the last years worth of attraction stored inside you, and now there was no reasonable excuse to hide that flaming passion for Bob Saginowski. You clawed at his chest, yanking the crucifix chain clumsily right off his neck to fall to the floor inside his discarded, muddy boot. The sloppy bites he was staining around your throat would raise eyebrows tomorrow, but you’d wear them like a medal of honor if need be. He hissed, and drew blood from his own lip as he bit down in uncontrollable eagerness at wetness that coated his thighs.

The particular cushion Bob had chosen left his back vulnerable to the door, and the glass center of it. The interior switches had been flipped off earlier from your attempts to close the place properly, so you didn’t give any thought of being exposed to the passing of nighttime traffic. But, when you happen to catch the wiggling of the turning knob as your eyes turned upward from the earlobe belonging to Bob you were chewing on. You cringed horrifically realizing he had left the door unlocked when he returned with Rocco, as it opened hesitantly. The clinking bell triggered the man to wrap you tightly between his strong arms equipped for defense, and swivel around to meet the intruder.

When none other than the dismissed, scorned ex-girlfriend stepped inside to escape the misting rain of the midnight hour, your heart leaped and whistled like a songbird. Normally, you would’ve crawled under the bar to hide your naked body in shame. But, due to the crass and snarky behavior she had shown to you just mere hours ago, you immaturely decided she may very well deserve the X-rated vision of yourself and a very pleased Bob underneath the bouncing cheeks of your ass.

She disturbingly turned away and shielded her eyes the minute she concluded what she had indeed interrupted.

“What the hell, Bob?! You threw me in a cab for.. for this?!!”

Your necked sank into your shoulders like a frightened turtle when his hands loosened their clasp around your shivering body courtesy of the puff of breeze she carried in upon opening the door. Was he going to just shove you away, leaving you unsatisfied, and lacking a single shred of dignity to your name, so he could chase after her?

“She is exactly why I tossed you into a cab, yeah. She didn’t leave me to run off doing who the hell knows what, with God knows who. So yes, Nadia. She is who belongs here wi’ me and Rocco.”

He combed a chunk of sweat dampened hair behind your pixie ear, and gazed approvingly, and lovingly over meek features.

“Now, I believe I made it clear that you ain’t welcome here. Ever. So, if you’ll excuse me…”

Before she processed the clear, and justifiable dismissal from Bob, he met your mouth to his, and began a romantic rhythm of in and out motions with his hips. An inkling of your conservative side wanted to protest, but you wouldn’t deny the reciprocation of his craving for you. He closed his eyes in bliss, resting his forehead on the dip of your collarbone, and you took the opportunity to wink over his shoulder at an exiting Nadia. The dramatic rolling of her overly-lined eyes tickled your satisfaction.

You could sense he was terribly sorry for his irresponsible move of leaving the door unlatched, and having Nadia intrude on this long-awaited night. He shifted, and situated you strategically so he could reach tingling depths inside of you to stimulate that sweet spot you didn’t even know you had. A wafting aroma of his woodsy, raw sweat blended with your dipping arousal and hints of candy-like perfume followed behind the wave of your orgasm.

You accidentally closed off his air with your boa-constrictor like grip around his core as he shook loose the stress of the long overdue release. Bob’s hands clung fitfully to your lower back, careful not to crush you, and seeped himself inside of you with an airy moan of your name.

When the two of you drank every sense of the other in, and had imploded with a feverish unwinding, you heard Rocco’s begging whines, and clipped nails pawing at the stockroom door. He even howled three times and attempted to poke his nose from under the doorframe. Bob smiled at you slightly, and nudged your nose with his own before draping his unbuttoned shirt over your miniscule shoulders.

“I told ya’. He hates loud noises, so you’re just gonna have to learn to keep those little screams to a whisper, Y/N.” Bob winked at you, and offered you a cool drink of the lager he retrieved from the cooler.

“So, there’s a next time then? Boss…”

“Give me 5 minutes, and find out.”

TAGS: @torialeysha @eap1935

#tomhardy #Tom Hardy #tomhardyfanfic #tomhardyfanfiction #thedrop #bob saginowski #fanfic #fanfiction

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thesarcasticramen · 6 years ago

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PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART: IRONDAD EDITION

*inhales deeply* i don’t even know why i need to discuss this but here we go.

here are the basics that most of us are probably well-aware of now. the irondad and spiderson thing originated when tony stark recruits peter parker in captain america: civil war which also marks the second appearance of the latter since iron man 2.

setting aside the obvious liking i’ve taken to this relationship, i admit, tony’s recruitment with a (possibly then) fourteen-year old kid in a fight with highly-trained super-powered individuals in berlin without the knowledge of his legal guardian about the real matter—yes, we know she wouldn’t have let him because she’s an incredible mother to peter—because he blackmailed him into doing so is problematic. tony threatened the boy of disclosing his part-time vigilantism if he doesn’t reconsider his rejection of fighting alongside him. moreover, peter, as he had told steve during their duel and in the opening vlog of homecoming, wasn’t even in the know about the accords. it was a lapse of judgment on tony’s side that he didn’t shed some light on the conflict before dragging him into it. sure, peter has had his spidey powers then and tony wouldn’t have let something harmful befall on the teen on his watch and he knew that the other team isn’t really out for blood, but frankly, that wasn’t really one of tony’s best moments.

one detail we’ve all taken into account, aside from the fact that he already knows spider-man’s identity, is the suit tony had prepared for peter. tony stark is a genius, that is a universally-acknowledged truth, but even he took way more than several hours to create his own suit, design its features and run tests. this proves that tony stark had already been monitoring spider-man before civil war even took place, going out of his way to study the workings of the vigilante and upgrading his armor for more convenience, efficiency, and safety. after the fight, he relinquishes millions-worth of property to peter’s hands not just because it barely even scraped tony’s fortune, but to keep him safe and under his watch. the mentorship was bound to happen right from the start, tony has just been waiting for the right moment.

on spiderman: homecoming, peter receives radio silence from tony for the months that followed the events of civil war. peter is seen to be struggling to contain the excitement of participating in bigger things like the walmart parking lot fight instead of his usual fix of small crimes in queens and the disappointment of still not hearing a word from tony. people viewed this as another issue as tony left peter to fend for himself after using him to do his bidding. as a mentor should, it would’ve been better if tony did become more of a recurring presence in peter’s life and gave him actual lessons and training rather than just swooping in when the boy is on the brink of danger.

however, we see all kinds of features tony has put in the suit for the kid, as a fruit of all his past mistakes that he learned from. a parachute, a tracker, a heater—all of these things make peter extra protected. don’t even get me started on the training wheels protocol, the baby monitor protocol, and karen. of course, spider-man can do without all of those things (which i will be explaining later on, stay with me) but tony is doing his best to let peter spread his wings but not fly too close to the sun. “stay close to the ground” and “be a friendly-neighborhood spider-man” weren’t restrictions on peter, they were encouragement that looking out for the little guy matter as much as what the avengers do and those are going to help him work his way up and grow into a much wiser superhero.

“it’s not too early to start thinking about college”is also an important part of the aftermath of getting dunked in a lake. tony stressed on the significance of education, as any parent would, and even offered to pull on some strings and give a good word out for him. he knows peter is a genius and had so much potential so he wanted to make it flourish and not let it go to waste for the benefit of the boy and possibly of the world he’s going to change someday.

tidbits that are equally essential: tony makes sure peter is also under happy’s surveillance. tony knows about the churro lady and that he quit the band, he either reviews the reports that happy forwards to him or listens to happy rant about peter. either way, he cares enough to pay attention and remember that sort of information.

howard stark wasn’t “father of the year”. despite growing up with such a detached dad, tony didn’t want to end up treating peter, who wasn’t biologically his, by the way—i get that blood of the covenant is thicker than the water in the womb but it’s to give emphasis that tony cared for peter by choice—the same way howard treated him. he was “breaking the cycle of shame” by validating and praising peter’s achievements because he knew how it felt but just crave for that from the one person you want to hear it from.

in an excerpt from destiny arrives by liza palmer, the official paperback version of infinity war, peter had wanted tony’s approval since day one and that explains his reckless attempts of proving himself by going against tony’s warnings. what he fails to notice is, tony had been validating him since iron man 2. “nice work kid.” “you did a good job, stay down.” “great work in dc.”

now let’s get to the big yikes scene. first of all, tony stark was offended to think that peter thought he didn’t care. if stepping out of that suit (being actually there) looking pissed doesn’t already show that, then i don’t know what else would. see, he didn’t take the suit just because peter screwed the pooch and he thinks he is not capable of using it intelligently, he took the suit to teach him a lesson about responsibility. tony was once reliant on his iron man suits that he lost sight of how to stand up on his own two feet and he didn’t want peter to end up being the same. “if you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.” tony wanted peter to learn that being a superhero is more than having a suit, it’s about the choices, the path, the actions, and the person, himself.

the “i was just trying to be like you.” “and i wanted you to be better.” dialogue made me draw a conclusion (this is just my personal opinion), the possible story behind the radio silence was because tony was scared peter would end up following his footsteps. he wanted peter to navigate super heroism on his own, with only the slightest guidance, to be able to figure out who he really was and to learn on how to build his own character and not replicate iron man and his failures. tony wanted peter to be peter, spider-man to be spider-man, because that’s what he needs to be and what he believes to be what the world and peter deserved to be, better. it’s why he set the parameters to the gray area: avoiding the things he would and wouldn’t do.

if people thought tony stopped peter from being spider-man by taking the suit away, wrong. peter chose that because he needed the time to rethink. in the end, he managed to push himself back up and be the bigger person, the hero. remember that scene wherein he can’t get out from under all those rubble and he almost gave up because he believed that he would never? recalling tony’s words made him reach an epiphany that his strength indeed does not come from his suit, but from himself. he was spider-man even before, with, our without the suit. and that, by the end of the day, is what all he needed to realize in order to triumph.

another issue i frown at is tony’s recruitment of peter to be one of the avengers at the end of homecoming. peter is still a kid after all and letting him be exposed to the media and to more accountability and bigger threats is just a no-no for me. thank goodness, peter turned that down, thinking it was a test. test or not, tony is proud of peter’s decision because it shows how much the kid has matured and actually listened to his concerns.

TOUGH LOVE, these words were uttered by tony stark, himself so need i really say more?

in the beginning of infinity war, tony was initiating the talk of having kids with pepper, a huge development that could possibly be influenced by the amount of peter parker he had become accustomed to. tony and peter’s relationship is seen to have evolved more. their dynamic and coordination is like that of a well-oiled machine. in the scene where peter was getting beamed up, we were introduced to the ironspider suit but he was sent home by tony. peter, however, still managed to hitch the ride to space.

“speaking of loyalty.” - peter parker to tony stark in avengers infinity war (2018). you mean, loyalty and worry? to say that tony was terrified to see peter aboard is the understatement of the century. tony pretty much lost his mind, not wanting to be the reason or the one responsible for peter not coming home to his aunt, just as he was scared when peter went down in the airport and in the ferry incident. tony didn’t have a single good memory in outer space and he certainly can’t put peter through the same thing. he didn’t want another loved one to be at risk all because of him and his conscience and heart absolutely cannot take that. but as much as it’s hard for him to accept it, tony didn’t have much of a choice but to knight peter as an avenger.

“what’s your plan?” tony put so much faith in peter’s wit, skills, and capabilities even back in civil war when they took down ant man and when he enlisted his help albeit everybody saying he was crazy to and he continues to do so when he entrusted the plan of freeing strange to peter and when he called for him during the removal of thanos’ gauntlet. again, belief and validation means a lot to a protege.

“what is he, your ward?” even stephen points out the obvious bond between the two.

“you shoot my guy and i’ll blast him. let’s go!”one of tony’s major priorities in the movie is protecting peter. according to accounts that have purchased destiny arrives, tony was depicted to have been going through an existential crisis throughout the whole endeavor over the possibility of losing peter, gnawing at his gut, coming into terms with how pepper always felt when he did something wherein he would only have a fifty-fifty chance of survival. he was also coming into terms with how much he cares for the boy.

i’m not going to delve deeper into THAT scene, and instead, present to you another excerpt from destiny arrives:

there is a reason why marvel repeatedly accentuates that the irondad and spiderson arc is a vital aspect of the emotional core of infinity war and endgame. in the new and latest teaser for endgame, tony is shown to be mournfully looking at a framed photo he had with peter, meaning that the two have spent time together beyond the scenes that we see them in and in the gap between movies. having kept that picture already speaks volumes about how much peter meant to tony. it was serving to be his reminder of what he was fighting for, not just to avenge the world, but for peter. that face is a face of a man who lost family.

and when i say “repeatedly”…

jeremy conrad’s tweet:

in a panel with the russo’s, a fan asked about what was going through tony’s mind when peter disintegrated before him, they answered, “like losing a child.”

robert downey jr.’s interview wherein his take on his character’s relationship with tom holland’s is “an attempt at modern parenting.”

…i mean, repeatedly. IRONDAD IS CANON.

before you all clamor about the lack of may parker in this post, i’d like to clarify that i absolutely adore that woman. there is no competition when it comes to being the most incredible parent and mother to peter. the love she has for her nephew cannot be measured and she raised him with all she had despite losing all who can support her in doing so. she deserves as much recognition and admiration as tony does. nonetheless, that doesn’t mean she can’t accept a little help from time to time especially in the spider-man department. richard and ben parker will always be peter’s dads, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have another father figure to look up to.

tony is not a perfect father figure. he has had his fair share of messing up trying to be and he probably thinks peter deserves someone better to fill in the role. but one thing is for sure, he loves peter and he’s doing everything in his power to be the best one he can be and the one that peter needs.

so to all those who put on a blind eye and deny that this relationship doesn’t exist,

let it sink in that tony stark had become more of a hero to peter parker

than he was in the suit.

iron man wasn't the one who believed in him

it was the man with the heart.

thanks for coming to my ted talk.

#marvel #marvel cinematic universe #marvel movies #captain america: civil war #spider man: homecoming #avengers #infinity war #endgame #tony stark #iron man #irondad #peter parker #spiderman #spiderson #spideyson #ironfam #robert downey jr.#tom holland #meta

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superbeitmenotyou · 5 years ago

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Spider-Man: Far From Home: The Screenwriters explain the Twists

youtube

This text incorporates spoilers for Spider-Man Far From Home.

Back it got here to crafting “Spider-Man Far From Home,” the screenwriters, Chris McKenna and Erik Somers, had an incredibly complex web to weave.

The movie sends Peter Parker and his superhero buddies, Spider-Man, both played with the aid of Tom Holland on category travel via Europe, but “removed from domestic” nevertheless had to grapple with the tragic catastrophe of “Avengers: Endgame,” wherein Peter misplaced his mentor, tony stark.

“Far From Home” additionally introduces Jake Gyllenhaal, an extra superhero who appears to be on abate’s facet but whom savvy comedian-e-book fanatics will automatically admire as Mysterio, certainly one of Spider-Man’s basic foes. and then there’s the rely upon unravelling character accoutrement introduced in ’s “Spider-Man: homecoming,” including Peter’s beginning accord along with his classmate MJ Zendaya.

In a fresh telephone dialogue, McKenna and Sommers whose previous collaborations include “Spider-Man: homecoming” and “ Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” explained how they juggled these abounding plot aspects and got here up with a surprise end-credit score aberration that guarantees to circuit Spider-Man in a whole new course. here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

How did you arrive on the choice to acquaint Mysterio as an ally who’s working with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury?

Chris McKenna one of the hardest issues with these motion pictures is touchdown on the villain. With Mysterio, there have been models of the memoir where he was at the forefront as an out-and-out villain that Peter and Nick have been chasing around Europe as he pulled off these events, all building to this lower back legend of why he became doing it, which changed into a totally different third act. We went downloads of different anchorage.

Erik Sommers however in the end, as a result of Mysterio offers so lots in deception, it changed into a variety of herbal that it led to a chronicle structure where his whole identity changed into a deceive for a long time.

McKenna There’s going to be people accepted satisfactory with the comics who reactivity to peer right through him, however, you type of can’t be concerned about that if you happen to develop with an artifice like this. You simply ought to achievement so you might get abroad with it lengthy satisfactory so that back the show comes up, people are still having fun with the film.

Mysterio employs enough deep-cut comedian-publication references — together with a back epic involving an alternative edition of the earth — that alike super enthusiasts might locate themselves satisfied in the beginning.

Sommers That truly did aid. Any time we locate ourselves with a twist or shock exhibit of something like this, we are looking to do as lots as we can to give protection to it and abstract from it ahead of time.

McKenna What we saved asserting is that he needed to consider as a true personality, so we desired to supply him a tragic again yarn with the entire particulars of coming from an additional apple, and ensure that the Elementals he’s combating acquainted like a becoming, Avengers-stage threat. surely, it turned into all smoke and mirrors, but we desired to accomplish it as plausible as feasible, and what helped become making Nick acerbity — the battiest man on the planet — apparently fall for it.

Sommers if you consider of what Mysterio is doing as actuality a con, again a sensible con man is going to employ different individuals to help promote his lie.

within the conclusion-credit scene, we find out that Nick isn’t Nick in any respect — as a substitute, a shape-shifting alien from “Captain Marvel” has been posing as Nick Fury for the total film.

McKenna Thematically, we desired to accept as many illusions and twists as viable, and up during the conclusion of the movie, we wanted to make you question everything you’ve viewed before.

however it becomes really a concept that got here later in the manner, and it helped because if anyone within the audience had considerations with Nick fury falling for Quentin’s nonsense, it changed into a nice defence valve to accept.

How a good deal did wonder divulge to you about the big twists in “Avengers: Endgame” in case you begun penning this film?

McKenna We were like, “wait, who goes abroad? and how do they arrive back?” We didn’t basically see “Endgame” except the most fulfilling — might be if we’d common more in strengthen, we might accept fabricated a funny story about Valkyrie using a Pegasus since you really are looking to reference that.

Sommers You’re accustomed every little thing on a need-to-recognize basis.

McKenna the two important things we knew have been the -yr hole and the ramifications it could accept for the individuals who did and didn’t get blipped away. And, certainly, the tony of all of it.

The shadow that tony’s demise casts over this film nearly makes him an alternative version of Uncle Ben from the Spider-Man comic books. back chic bequeaths a magnificent reward to abate in “far from domestic,” it could as well come with a bit observe announcing, “With first-rate power comes amazing accountability.”

McKenna The different “Spider-Man” videos definitely handled Uncle Ben, and “accession” hinted at it, however, you’re appropriate: In a lot of methods, the gravitas really comes from abate’s accord with chic.

Sommers It’s affected that there likely changed into an Uncle Ben and the ache of that accident is lingering there, but this gave each person the probability to actualize a whole new accord between Peter and his mentor, Tony, and to contend with the loss of that, which is a very potent, emotional experience in his life.

within the mid-credits tag, a posthumous video from Mysterio exposes Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world. That’s principal shake-up for this personality. Why acquaint it now?

McKenna We had been challenged via the producers to come up with whatever thing that abate sacrifices through the end of this movie, and after we hit upon that as a group, it grew to become a very horrifying theory: “Oh, no, we will do this! then it’s no longer a Spider-Man film anymore!”

Sommers sooner or later, we realized that because of it afraid us, you need to run toward it.

McKenna, It’s the sort of daring manoeuvre that it grew to become assured, especially with a difficult persona like Mysterio, who’s this darkish father figure. From the grave, is he making an attempt to give abate his “I’m adamant Man” moment? It’s advance aloft him, however, is this a lesson or an abuse?

Mysterio additionally frames Spider-Man for the crimes he’s been committing, which would initiate the next movie in an extremely different region.

McKenna, We have been questioning, “Are we activity as abysmal as we deserve to at the end of the movie?” We performed with the thought that Peter is the one who sacrifices his identification out of call all over the last combat, then it appeared more wonderful if Mysterio tricks him into doing it, but any time we wrote an edition where he was being printed to the world in that fight, it felt like it beneath the achievement. So earlier than it grew to become a tag, it becomes really simply the end of the film: right as he feels he’s dispatched up as Spider-Man, he has the rug pulled out from under him once again.

Sommers We had been basically debating, should still we just show who Spider-Man is, or should we body him for whatever thing and turn him right into an abomination? ultimately, we decided that each was how to go. It’s any such triumph on the end as a result of he’s received the girl and at last, becoming a big swing in the course of the city, so we are looking to knock him down as far as possible.

The greatest surprise of the movie is that the id show is advertisement via J. Jonah Jameson, the daily adenoids blowhard who became played by way of J.k. Simmons within the common “Spider-Man” movies directed via Sam Raimi. Simmons reprises the position right here, making him the first actor from a different set of movies to join the present wonder cosmos as the same personality.

McKenna both of those ideas got here together resplendent quickly. I don’t understand if it became director Jon Watts or somebody else who talked about, “it 'll be each day adenoids, and it 'll be J. Jonah Jameson.” That concept has been lingering round due to the fact that “homecoming”: How will we insert our new version of J. Jonah?

Sommers There had already been some activity in possibly the usage of J.k. Simmons when we brought J. Jonah again, so as soon as it was decided that we have been acting to reveal Peter’s identification on the very conclusion instead of the last combat, it all fell into region very artlessly that J. Jonah would be worried.

McKenna whatever thing that had been amphibian through this complete movie changed into the thought of “false information” and how can you accept as true with everything you see? We had been toying with the conception that Mysterio would turn Spider-Man right into a villain, similar to he did within the comic books, and it acquainted like that again angry into this J. Jonah. because of the Alex Jones of the MCU.

With newspapers on the wane, it’s fun that J. Jonah Jameson has basically become a YouTube personality.

#entertainment #spider-man #spider-man far from home #marvel #mcu

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thejakeformerlyknownasprince · 7 years ago

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What are other books/series that you'd recommend that are in the same vein as Animorphs?

Honestly, your ask inspired me to get off my butt and finally compile a list of the books that I reference with my character names in Eleutherophobia, because in a lot of ways that’s my list of recommendations right there: I deliberately chose children’s and/or sci-fi stories that deal really well with death, war, dark humor, class divides, and/or social trauma for most of my character names. I also tend to use allusions that either comment on Animorphs or on the source work in the way that the names come up.

That said, here are The Ten Greatest Animorphs-Adjacent Works of Literature According to Sol’s Totally Arbitrary Standards:

1. A Ring of Endless Light, Madeline L’Engle

This is a really good teen story that, in painfully accurate detail, captures exactly what it’s like to be too young to really understand death while forced to confront it anyway. I read it at about the same age as the protagonist, not that long after having suffered the first major loss in my own life (a friend, also 14, killed by cancer). It accomplished exactly what a really good novel should by putting words to the experiences that I couldn’t describe properly either then or now. This isn’t a light read—its main plot is about terminal illness, and the story is bookended by two different unexpected deaths—but it is a powerful one.

2. The One and Only Ivan, K.A. Applegate

This prose novel (think an epic poem, sort of like The Iliad, only better) obviously has everything in it that makes K.A. Applegate one of the greatest children’s authors alive: heartbreaking tragedy, disturbing commentary on the human condition, unforgettably individuated narration, pop culture references, and poop jokes. Although I’m mostly joking when I refer to Marco in my tags as “the one and only” (since this book is narrated by a gorilla), Ivan does remind me of Marco with his sometimes-toxic determination to see the best of every possible situation when grief and anger allow him no other outlet for his feelings and the terrifying lengths to which he will go in order to protect his found family.

3. My Teacher Flunked the Planet, Bruce Coville

Although the entire My Teacher is an Alien series is really well-written and powerful, this book is definitely my favorite because in many ways it’s sort of an anti-Animorphs. Whereas Animorphs (at least in my opinion) is a story about the battle for personal freedom and privacy, with huge emphasis on one’s inner identity remaining the same even as one’s physical shape changes, My Teacher Flunked the Planet is about how maybe the answer to all our problems doesn’t come from violent struggle for personal freedoms, but from peaceful acceptance of common ground among all humans. There’s a lot of intuitive appeal in reading about the protagonists of a war epic all shouting “Free or dead!” before going off to battle (#13) but this series actually deconstructs that message as blind and excessive, especially when options like “all you need is love” or “no man is an island” are still on the table.

4. Moon Called, Patricia Briggs

I think this book is the only piece of adult fiction on this whole list, and that’s no accident: the Mercy Thompson series is all about the process of adulthood and how that happens to interact with the presence of the supernatural in one’s life. The last time I tried to make a list of my favorite fictional characters of all time, it ended up being about 75% Mercy Thompson series, 24% Animorphs, and the other 1% was Eugenides Attolis (who I’ll get back to in my rec for The Theif). These books are about a VW mechanic, her security-administrator next door neighbor, her surgeon roommate, her retail-working best friend and his defense-lawyer boyfriend, and their cybersecurity frenemy. The fact that half those characters are supernatural creatures only serves to inconvenience Mercy as she contemplates how she’s going to pay next month’s rent when a demon destroyed her trailer, whether to get married for the first time at age 38 when doing so would make her co-alpha of a werewolf pack, what to do about the vampires that keep asking for her mechanic services without paying, and how to be a good neighbor to the area ghosts that only she can see.

5. The Thief, Megan Whalen Turner

This book (and its sequel A Conspiracy of Kings) are the ones that I return to every time I struggle with first-person writing and no Animorphs are at hand. Turner does maybe the best of any author I’ve seen of having character-driven plots and plot-driven characters. This book is the story of five individuals (with five slightly different agendas) traveling through an alternate version of ancient Greece and Turkey with a deceptively simple goal: they all want to work together to steal a magical stone from the gods. However, the narrator especially is more complicated than he seems, which everyone else fails to realize at their own detriment.

6. Homecoming, Cynthia Voight

Critics have compared this book to a modern, realistic reimagining of The Boxcar Children, which always made a lot of sense to me. It’s the story of four children who must find their own way from relative to relative in an effort to find a permanent home, struggling every single day with the question of what they will eat and how they will find a safe place to sleep that night. The main character herself is one of those unforgettable heroines that is easy to love even as she makes mistake after mistake as a 13-year-old who is forced to navigate the world of adult decisions, shouldering the burden of finding a home for her family because even though she doesn’t know what she’s doing, it’s not like she can ask an adult for help. Too bad the Animorphs didn’t have Dicey Tillerman on the team, because this girl shepherds her family through an Odysseus-worthy journey on stubbornness alone.

7. High Wizardry, Diane Duane

The Young Wizards series has a lot of good books in it, but this one will forever be my favorite because it shows that weird, awkward, science- and sci-fi-loving girls can save the world just by being themselves. Dairine Callahan was the first geek girl who ever taught me it’s not only okay to be a geek girl, but that there’s power in empiricism when properly applied. In contrast to a lot of scientifically “smart” characters from sci-fi (who often use long words or good grades as a shorthand for conveying their expertise), Dairine applies the scientific method, programming theory, and a love of Star Wars to her problem-solving skills in a way that easily conveys that she—and Diane Duane, for that matter—love science for what it is: an adventurous way of taking apart the universe to find out how it works. This is sci-fi at its best.

8. Dr. Franklin’s Island, Gwyneth Jones

If you love Animorphs’ body horror, personal tragedy, and portrayal of teens struggling to cope with unimaginable circumstances, then this the book for you! I’m only being about 80% facetious, because this story has all that and a huge dose of teen angst besides. It’s a loose retelling of H.G. Wells’s classic The Island of Doctor Moreau, but really goes beyond that story by showing how the identity struggles of adolescence interact with the identity struggles of being kidnapped by a mad scientist and forcibly transformed into a different animal. It’s a survival story with a huge dose of nightmare fuel (seriously: this book is not for the faint of heart, the weak of stomach, or anyone who skips the descriptions of skin melting and bones realigning in Animorphs) but it’s also one about how three kids with a ton of personal differences and no particular reason to like each other become fast friends over the process of surviving hell by relying on each other.

9. Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Louis Sachar

Louis Sachar is the only author I’ve ever seen who can match K.A. Applegate for nihilistic humor and absurdist horror layered on top of an awesome story that’s actually fun for kids to read. Where he beats K.A. Applegate out is in terms of his ability to generate dream-like surrealism in these short stories, each one of which starts out hilariously bizarre and gradually devolves into becoming nightmare-inducingly bizarre. Generally, each one ends with an unsettling abruptness that never quite relieves the tension evoked by the horror of the previous pages, leaving the reader wondering what the hell just happened, and whether one just wet one’s pants from laughing too hard or from sheer existential terror. The fact that so much of this effect is achieved through meta-humor and wordplay is, in my opinion, just a testament to Sachar’s huge skill as a writer.

10. Magyk, Angie Sage

As I mentioned, the Septimus Heap series is probably the second most powerful portrayal of the effect of war on children that I’ve ever encountered; the fact that the books are so funny on top of their subtle horror is a huge bonus as well. There are a lot of excellent moments throughout the series where the one protagonist’s history as a child soldier (throughout this novel he’s simply known as “Boy 412″) will interact with his stepsister’s (and co-protagonist’s) comparatively privileged upbringing. Probably my favorite is the moment when the two main characters end up working together to kill a man in self-defense, and the girl raised as a princess makes the horrified comment that she never thought she’d actually have to kill someone, to which her stepbrother calmly responds that that’s a privilege he never had; the ensuing conversation strongly implies that his psyche has been permanently damaged by the fact that he was raised to kill pretty much from infancy, but all in a way that is both child-friendly and respectful of real trauma.

#ya sf #book recs #sci fi #children's literature #animorphs #a ring of endless light #the one and only ivan #my teacher flunked the planet #moon called #the theif #homecoming #high wizardry #dr. franklin's island #sideways stories from wayside school #magyk

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81scorp · 5 years ago

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Constructive criticism: 5 MCU movies (and Venom)

Originally posted on Deviantart Sep 21, 2019)

Let`s be honest, MCU is doing better than DCEU. But let`s be honest, the MCU has also stumbled a few times. Just like bad things can have something good in them something good can also be a little flawed. And since I want to be fair and balanced (The REAL version of "fair and balanced" not the FOX news kind.) I thought I`d revisit the MCU and do a little nitpicking. I squeezed all of these MCU movies (and Venom) into one CC because I didn`t have that much to say about them individually. So... if I had a Pym particle powered Time machine that could take me back in time... what would I have changed? SPOILERS for Thor Ragnarok, Spider-Man Homecoming and Captain Marvel Dr Strange

Some of the bathos What is bathos? In a litrerary work bathos is an effect of anticlimax created by a lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculus. MCU has a tendency to put bathos in their movies to understandably lighten the mood but also undercut the drama of the situation. In Dr Stange the biggest offender is this scene: Kaecilius: How long have you been at Kamar-Taj, Mister... Dr Strange: Doctor! Kaecilius: Mr. Doctor? Dr Strange: It's Strange. Kaecilius: Maybe. Who am I to judge? I`m not against comedy (far from it, some of my favourite movies are comedies) but a few seconds before this scene Dr Strange, a medical doctor, had just seen a man get killed right in front of him. It`s too much of a mood shift and quite unnecessary. I`d lose this bit of dialogue. Maybe replace it with something more like Dr Strange: You just killed that man! Kaecilius: I take it this kind of thing is new to you? Maybe you`ll be more cooperative than he was. Just throwing out some ideas. Thor Ragnarok

Thor having the power to see through Heimdall`s eyes When was it established that Thor can see through Heimdall`s eyes when he wants to? Do we need a scene where Thor and Heimdall communicates? After rewatching the movie it turns out that, yes we do. How else was he gonna know which wormhole to take? But it`s better if Thor and Heimdall`s communication is not that easy to achieve. How about this instead: Heimdall seeks the help of the three Norns (like Thor did in my CC of Avengers: AoU). He gets help from Verdandi who creates a mental link between him and Thor, allowing Thor to see what he sees and get the info he needs. The death of Warriors three At first I didn`t like that they killed them off at all. Then I was OK with it but felt that it could have been done in a different way. How about: When Hela first arrives at Asgard she only meets Skurge who is willing to cooperate. Then in the scene where she fights Hogun (and many Asgardians soldiers) she also fights Fandral and Volstagg. They fight valiantly and die Boromir-like deaths. Bruce hitting the bridge before turning into Hulk Let`s say that I can suspend my disbelief enough to buy that Bruce did not break his neck when he hit the bridge trying to trigger his transformation. The movie has enough humor as it is, just let Bruce land behind the wolf in full Hulk-mode. Korg`s "As long as the foundations are still strong" speech The problem with this scene is that it is a funny line directly followed by the reaction of the Asgardians watching their home being destroyed with great sorrow. Lose this speech. It`s not like Korg doesn`t have any funny lines in this movie. Spider-Man Homecoming

Ned and Betty in Highschool This is more of a comicbook purist nitpicking but in the comics Ned Leeds and Betty Brant are reporters working on the Bugle, not kids in Highschool. How about: make Betty some other character from the comics... like Deborah Whitman, and change Ned`s name (maybe to Jake, David, Zach or Todd, just throwing out some names). "Come on Spider-Man" The scene where Peter lifts tons of debris from himself would have worked better without dialogue

MJ`s name Why change her name? They kept Flash`s and Liz`s name. Don`t change her name. Have them call her "Jane" during most of the movie and then reveal in the end that she prefers to be called MJ. Leaving us, the audience to assume that the M must stand for "Mary". Captain Marvel

I´m just a girl fight-scene Using No Doubt`s "I`m just a girl" for a fight scene feels a little on the nose. How about:

A: Use some score made specifically for this scene instead of an already existing song. Or...

B: Use an already existing song but make "Barracuda" by Heart or some similar song."But `Barracuda` wasn`t made in the nineties" you say. Correct. But it`s a cool song. How Fury lost his eye

Really? Fury lost his eye to a flerkin`cat? It just feels a little weak. How about: He doesn`t lose his eye in this movie. Save it for another movie or keep it a mystery. Avengers: Infinity War

Heimdall teleporting Hulk When was it established that Heimdall can teleport people without the aid of the sword and the Bifrost thingy? How about: Thanos uses the space stone to teleport Hulk to earth. He does so to test the stone`s power and to get rid of (what in his eyes is) a nuisance.

Venom

I`m one of the people who thinks that Sony should let the rights revert back to Marvel. (Yes I`ve heard about the Sony-Disney deal so I know that what I`m writing here will be horribly dated as soon as it is published, but then again, that happens to everything that I write. Better late than never.) Venom works better as a supporting character that later gets his own spin off rather than a character that gets his own movie from the start. Where should it come out in the MCU movie order? Maybe after Black Widow but before the Eternals? What should it be called? Maybe... Spider-Man: Monsters? Spider-Man: Enemies? Spider-Man: Something something far from Homecoming? This is different from other CCs because this time I haven`t actually seen the movie.

Plot: It begins with Spider-Man doing what he usually does: catching badguys. He beats and webs a ski mask wearing terrorist who calls himself Sin-Eater who was planning to blow up an important building. Opening credits roll. Petey finds out that there`s a Spider-man imitator in San Fransisco who is very cruel against the criminals they catch. They even kill some of them. Pete goes to investigate and meets the imitator: Venom. Venom was Eddie Brock, a journalist who could have won the Pulitzer prize for a series of phone interviews he made with a dangerous terrorist called Sin-Eater, but then it turned out that the man he interviewed was just a mentally ill man pretending to be Sin-Eater. Eddie was fired, a few days later the great Snap happened. Eddie lost all his friends. Distraught and lost he went to a church for guidance and met the symbiote. He decided to leave N.Y. and return to his birthplace: San Fransisco and, in his own words: "fight crime in a better way than Spidey ever could". Venom and Spidey fight a little then it turns out that Sin-Eater is alive and is back to his old habit of blowing up important buildings. To make things worse: he has help from henchmen and he`s using advanced weapons made by the Tinkerer (or maybe the Leader?) and he`s injected himself with a version of the supersoldier serum. Spidey and Venom have to join forces and beat Sin-Eater. S-E dies in an explosion, Venom disappears, is pressumed dead but no body is found. Fury shows up to tell Spidey that the black goo was someting that S.H.I.E.L.D. had held in custody for a few years. They had found it in a portable metal container onboard a Kree ship. He suspects that an infiltrator must have stolen it shortly after "the big snap". (Maybe the Chameleon? I like the Chameleon.) He wonders if they`ll ever see Venom again.Epilogue: a guy in a hoodie goes into a convenience store to buy... I dunno, a yogurt (we don`t see his face). Another guy comes in to rob the place. The guy in a hoodie turns out to be Eddie who turns into Venom and gives us the "turd in the wind" speech before he kills the robber. Then he pays for his yogurt and leaves.

The End

And thats how I would do it. Feel free to disagree.

#81scorp #editorial #constructive #criticism #marvel #mcu

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kcaruth · 5 years ago

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Movie Mania: Top 10 of 2019

Another year of movies, another year a Star Wars film sadly did not make the cut for my list. With 2019′s The Rise of Skywalker, it is absolutely clear that the folks at Disney/Lucasfilm had no roadmap for this sequel trilogy whatsoever, which is an utter shame given their abundance of resources and proven ability to produce quality content as seen with the success of The Mandalorian.

In a rare occurrence, I saw most of the films nominated in the major categories for the Academy Awards. In fact, the Academy nominated seven out of my top 10 films for at least one award. I would say that 2019 was a markedly stronger year for film than 2018, so I have allowed myself a couple of extra honorable mention slots. One quick housekeeping note before I unveil my 2019 list: I’m retroactively moving Game Night and A Quiet Place ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book on my 2018 list. Now it is time to jump into my favorite films of 2019. (No spoilers!)

Honorable Mention: Joker

Nominated for a whopping 11 Oscars (equaling The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [which swept all 11], The Godfather [Parts 1 and 2], West Side Story, and Saving Private Ryan, among others), Joker should get an award for most divisive film of the year. Directed by Todd Phillips (yes, the same guy who directed The Hangover), Joker is a psychological thriller staring Joaquin Phoenix that provides a possible origin story for Batman’s arch-nemesis. Before becoming the Joker, Phoenix’s character, Arthur Fleck, dreams of becoming a famous stand-up comedian. His gradual descent into insanity, nihilism, and violence mirrors the chaotic anarchy slowly consuming the decaying Gotham City as its citizens revolt against the wealthy and better-off.

Despite the concerns surrounding Joker that it would inspire real-world violence, the film has grossed over one billion dollars, making it the first R-rated film to do so. Phoenix disappears into his role, and Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir’s haunting score brilliantly conveys the inner pain and turmoil in Arthur’s mind as well as the dying light of Gotham. (Guðnadóttir made history as the first solo woman to win a Golden Globe for best original film score.) In an interview with Forbes, Guðnadóttir explained the concept of her turbulent score. “In the beginning, it’s almost just like a solo cello, but in reality, there’s a whole symphony orchestra behind the cello. It’s almost like this hidden force that he doesn’t know about and as he starts to kind of discover what he’s gone through and what’s actually happened to him, the forces become louder and more aggressive. The orchestra takes over and almost eats the cello alive.”

Although Joker is a powerful film and and makes strong statements about mental illness and poverty, its gruesome, unhinged violence can be hard to handle. Everything is shown in graphic, bloody detail, making the thought of a repeat viewing undesirable. I also could have done without a couple of choices that were made involving the Waynes, especially one scene that we have seen over and over again.

Honorable Mention: Ford v Ferrari

As someone who really does not care all that much about cars and their inner workings, this film did the one thing it needed to do for me: It made me come out exclaiming, “Yeah, cars!”

In all seriousness, James Mangold’s sharp direction smartly focuses not on the sport of racing but rather on its big personalities. Those personalities gripped me so much that I immediately started researching their lives after the film ended. The plot follows Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles as they are dispatched by Henry Ford II to dethrone the dominant Ferrari racing team with an American-made car. Along the way, they have to deal with mechanical setbacks and corporate interference to achieve their goal.

This film’s cast is outstanding. Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s deep but sometimes heated friendship as Shelby and Miles is the heart of the film. Tracy Letts as Ford II and Josh Lucas as Leo Beebe, senior executive vice president of Ford, give off the perfect amount of corporate stench to make them unlikable but not unbelievable. 14-year-old Noah Jupe comes off his great performance in 2018′s A Quiet Place to deliver another stellar outing here as Miles’ young son. However, Jon Bernthal felt a bit underused as Lee Iacocca, vice president of Ford, and Cautriona Balfe’s role as Mollie Miles, Ken’s wife, though well-acted, felt like it could have been removed entirely without much consequence to the film overall.

With a moving score and great cinematography, Ford v Ferrari unexpectedly tugged at my heartstrings, and the infectious passion Shelby, Miles, and these other characters have for cars managed to rub off on me, which might be the ultimate testimonial for this film.

Honorable Mention: 1917

1917 has been hyped as “that World War I movie with one continuous take,” but it is so much more than that. World War I was a stark clash between 20th-century technology and 19th-centry tactics. With soldiers largely trapped in trench warfare, conflicts commonly turned into battles of attrition. That does not exactly translate into exciting cinema, which explains why there are so many more films about World War II. Karl Vick acknowledges this in Time magazine, writing, “motion pictures do require a certain amount of motion, and the major accomplishment of 1917...may be that its makers figured out what the generals could not: a way to advance” (Karl Vick. Time. "Escaping the Trench". January 20, 2020. Page 38-41.)

What more can one say about Roger Deakins at this point? What he and director Sam Mendes created with the cinematography of this film is nothing short of fantastic. With its cinematic achievement of what is made to look like one continuous shot, 1917 presents most of its actors with only a small amount of screen time to make an impact, and they are more than up to the challenge. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Richard Madden, and others all leave a lasting impression with their extremely short encounters with the film’s main characters, Lance Corporal Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman [Tommen!]) and Lance Corporal Schofield (George MacKay). Mendes places the bulk of the weight of the film on Chapman and MacKay’s shoulders, and they luckily carry it with natural ease. Working together with the one continuous take style, Thomas Newman’s riveting score keeps viewers on the edge of their seat and makes them feel like they are part of this life-or-death mission with the lance corporals.

If I had to list a couple of flaws with the film, I would say that one of the characters feels like he has untouchable plot armor. It almost seems like Mendes and company hope that the awe-inspiring cinematography will make viewers forgiving or even ignorant of the amount of times this character should be fatally shot or even injured, but I understand that some artistic license is necessary to convey the story they want to tell. The nature of the cinematography employed here also makes it difficult to get a grasp on distances and positioning because the shot is never really allowed to zoom out or give an aerial view since it is fixed on the lance corporals.

Unfortunately, I experienced this breathtaking film with one of my worst theater audiences of 2019. Much of the film was drowned out by the ladies sitting next to me who felt the need to constantly narrate everything that was happening on screen. “He’s going down into the trenches.” “Look! He’s jumping into the water.” Etc., etc. This is not your living room, people! If people want to talk over a film like this and provide running commentary and narration, they should wait for its home release. Your fellow audience members are not blind, and we would greatly appreciate it if you remained quiet.

#10: Spider-Man: Far From Home

After Avengers: Endgame released earlier in the year, the spotlight promptly shifted to Jon Watts’ Spider-Man: Far From Home, and he did a tremendous job with this film. Serving as both the epilogue to Endgame and the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home effectively closes out phase three and sets the stage for the next era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Far From Home is the first Spider-Man film to pass the billion-dollar mark, and it is not hard to see how it managed to pull that off. The returning cast led by Tom Holland as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man retains its great chemistry, and Jake Gyllenhaal is the perfect choice to play Quentin Beck/ Mysterio, complete with a great theme from returning composer Michael Giacchino. Fans of Spider-Man have been waiting forever to see this character on the big screen, and I am happy to report the film does him justice. Watts especially knocks his character out of the park with a certain sequence about halfway through the film that I was beyond thrilled to see.

The film is set immediately after the events of Endgame and finds Peter and his high school class taking an international field trip to Europe. The writers do an amazing job explaining the ramifications of Endgame, and the way they weave plot details and character motivations together all the way back from phase one of the MCU is mind-blowing. Watts realizes that there needs to be some levity after Endgame, so this film is full of laugh-out-loud humor and charmingly awkward teen road-trip set-pieces. Oh, and did I mention it has one of the best mid-credits scenes in the entire MCU that dramatically alters the characters’ futures going forward?

#9: Toy Story 4

I have a deep personal connection to the Toy Story franchise. I grew up watching Toy Story and Toy Story 2 on repeat, and Toy Story 3 came out during my senior year of high school. Those who have seen that film know why it especially resonated with me at that age. In my opinion, Toy Story 3 ended the trilogy perfectly; there was no way another film could top its emotional ending. When I heard that Pixar was coming out with Toy Story 4, I was not going to pass up another opportunity to hang out with Woody, Buzz, and the gang, of course, (neither was anyone else, seeing as this is the highest grossing film of the franchise) but I set my expectations to a low, manageable level.

Although I was disappointed that Buzz and the rest of Andy’s old toys were not as heavily involved in the plot and did not have all that much time to interact with Woody, I was impressed overall with the new characters and was happy to see Bo Peep return. In this film, Bo breaks through her porcelain design and exhibits a character with total agency over her choices. Everything about her redesign and the way she carries herself is awesome. Keanu Reeves’ Canadian daredevil Duke Caboom steals every scene he is in, and Christina Hendricks’ Gabby Gabby gave me terrifying flashbacks to Talky Tina from the “Living Doll” episode of The Twilight Zone.

As audiences have come to expect from Pixar, the film delivers stunning animation and a signature big emotional gut punch, which it earns it by building up genuinely heartwarming moments throughout its run time that address themes such as the difficulty of change, the beauty of imperfection, the mystery of creation and the meaning of life, and the importance of serving others. As Matt Zoller Seitz writes for RogerEbert.com, “This franchise has demonstrated an impressive ability to beat the odds and reinvent itself, over a span of time long enough for two generations to grow up in. It's a toy store of ideas, with new wonders in every aisle.”

#8: Doctor Sleep

Writer-director Mike Flanagan took on the unenviable task of pleasing two different parties when Warner Bros. hired him in January 2018: fans of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining from 1980 and Stephen King and fans of his books The Shining and Doctor Sleep. Somehow, he managed to pull it off.

After visiting the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, the location used in Kubrick’s film for the exterior of the Overlook Hotel, this past summer, I decided it was finally time to watch The Shining. I can attest it is just as much a masterpiece as many people say it is. My favorite part: it is a horror movie that does not rely on jump scares. When I heard the Flanagan wanted to chop away at the horror genre’s reliance on jump scares, I was even more excited to see Doctor Sleep. Flanagan said, “When we were developing the project and when we were talking about the metered expectations audiences have about, in particular, jump scares and startles and the pacing of those, which we’re utterly uninterested in this film, I would say, ‘What’s your favorite jump scare in The Shining?’ There isn’t one. The same is true here. We used a lot of the lessons that Kubrick taught us about how to do a psychological thriller, a supernatural thriller, in a way that is more about suffocating atmosphere and tension than it ever is about the kind of traditional scares as we understand them today.”

It is well known that King really disliked Kubrick’s adaptation of his book. He disliked it so much, in fact, that he wrote and executive-produced a new version with the 1997 television miniseries. In his approach to Doctor Sleep, Flanagan first read King’s book, which was published in 2013, and then consulted closely with the author to reconcile the differences between the book and film version of The Shining. After reading Flanagan’s script, King felt like his least favorite parts of Kubrik’s film had been “redeemed.”

Set several decades after The Shining, Doctor Sleep reunites audiences with Danny Torrance, played by everyone’s favorite Jedi, Ewan McGregor. Danny continues to struggle with the childhood trauma he endured at the Overlook Hotel during the events of The Shining, turning to alcohol to numb the pain and his psychic abilities. Meanwhile, the True Knot, a cult of psychic vampires led by Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson), is on the hunt for children with psychic abilities like Danny’s, and they are hot on the trail of young Abra Stone, played by Kyliegh Curran in her feature film debut.

With the benefit of having just seen The Shining a couple of months before this film, I was able to appreciate Flanagan’s careful attention to detail. He is clearly a fan of both King and Kubrick, but he does not let his admiration for them impede his own creative vision. He expertly balances original content with just the right amount of fan service and callbacks to The Shining. Even without jump scares, the film has plenty of horrifying moments, especially one involving young actor Jacob Tremblay that echoed in my mind long after the film had ended. Ewan McGregor is fabulous, as always, convincingly portraying Dan’s fight with his inner demons, and Rebecca Ferguson looks like she is having a devilishly good time as Rose the Hat. Above all, I was surprised to learn that this was Kyliegh Curran’s film debut. She is so comfortable on camera and has painted a bright future for herself out of the darkness of this film.

Doctor Sleep gave me all sorts of chills down my spine, induced by the eerie atmosphere of certain scenes as well as extremely well-timed tie-ins to its predecessor, that left me hungry for even more Stephen King stories.

#7: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Set in 1969 Los Angeles, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film stays true to its name and delivers an alternate version of events that unfolded in Hollywood that year. In addition to Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, and the Manson Family, the film tells the story of fictional characters Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth. Dalton is a veteran Hollywood actor most famous for starring in a Western television series called Bounty Law who believes he is approaching the end of his career. Booth, a war veteran with a shady past, is Dalton’s best friend and longtime stunt double. Together, they attempt to navigate the final stretch of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt work incredibly well together as Dalton and Booth, respectively, with neither star trying to outshine the other. Margot Robbie, on the other hand, does not get a lot of material to work with as Tate. (Do not tell Tarantino that.) Conversely, Julia Butters blew me away as Trudi Fraser, Dalton’s eight-year-old co-star in the pilot of a new American Western series. She more than holds her own acting side by side with DiCaprio.

Although the film moves at a slow pace, leaving me to wonder at times where this story was even going or if I was just watching a day in the life, Tarantino’s usual engaging, snappy dialogue entertains even when there is no real action happening on screen. With this being Tarantino, audiences have to accept his signature peculiarities, like close-up shots of feet, to be treated to another perfectly crafted soundtrack, complete with classic rock and roll, old-time DJ chatter, and period-accurate radio commercials. In the end, the slow pacing of Tarantino’s script actually helps enhance the heart-stopping standoff at the halfway point and the absurd payoff at the end. Clearly, this film is Tarantino’s passion project. In fact, he said it is “probably my most personal. I think of it like my memory piece... This is me. This is the year that formed me. I was six years old then. This is my world. And this is my love letter to L.A.” No wonder he publicly referred to it as Magnum Opus while he was writing it.

#6: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

Written and directed by the creator himself, Vince Gilligan, El Camino serves as the epilogue to Breaking Bad, giving fans closure on certain questions and characters. Many favorites from the series return in some form or fashion (shout-out to Jesse Plemons for absolutely crushing his role here), but the focus always remains on Jesse Pinkman. Whereas Breaking Bad was Walter White’s story, El Camino puts Jesse center stage, and Aaron Paul gives one of the best performances of his career, fully tapping into his character’s desperate, damaged psyche.

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul are two of my favorite television shows, and I think Gilligan is one of the best show runners in the business. He manages to incorporate the tone and atmosphere from the world of those two shows into this film seamlessly, and he rewards longtime fans with a nice amount of Easter eggs. Cinematographer Marshall Adams deserves so much praise for the jaw-dropping shots that grace the screen, especially the ones that show off the New Mexico landscape. He has an astonishing ability to make every frame look like a detailed painting. Editor Skip Macdonald should also be recognized for his work, particularly for the way his editing of Jesse searching for something in an apartment reinforces Gilligan’s non-linear revelatory style of storytelling.

El Camino does not waste any time with exposition, so someone who has not seen Breaking Bad cannot jump right into this film and understand what is going on. Then again, what rock have you been hiding under if you have not seen Breaking Bad at this point? What are you waiting for? Let this be your motivation to finally watch it, and then once you have made it through the series and El Camino, keep the good times rolling and watch Better Call Saul, which is just as good, if not maybe even a little better than, Breaking Bad.

#5: Jojo Rabbit

Only the whimsical genius of Taika Waititi could have concocted this irreverent, dark satire set against the backdrop of World War II Nazi Germany. Based on Christine Leunens’ book Caging Skies, Jojo Rabbit stars Roman Griffin Davis as the titular Johannes “Jojo” Betzler, a jingoistic 10-year-old German boy enrolled in the Hitler Youth. Jojo lives with his mother, Rosie, played by Scarlett Johansson. As far as Jojo knows, his father is fighting on the Italian Front, so he often turns to his imaginary friend, a wacky version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi), for advice and support as Germany becomes more desperate as the war starts to reach its conclusion.

Jojo Rabbit’s black comedy places viewers in plenty of predicaments in which they want to laugh, are not sure its entirely appropriate, but still end up doing so anyway. The film balances this out by keeping a good amount of heartrendingly emotional and genuinely sweet moments tucked up its sleeve. Waititi and Romanian cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare, Jr.’s visual storytelling is on a whole different level, carefully using ordinary imagery as subconscious foreshadowing, leading to one of the biggest breath-stealing shocks of the entire year that stopped my heart and rocked me to my core. Michael Giacchino seems to have been criminally overlooked by the Academy for his simultaneously jaunty and intimate score that adds yet another impressive layer to the film’s wide range of emotional beats. Living in a world fueled by hate, Davis, Johansson, and Thomasin McKenzie’s characters show how compassion and the willingness to try to come to a common understanding can change, and in some cases save, lives.

#4: Marriage Story

Writer-director Noah Baumbach paints what may be the most brutally honest picture of divorce I have ever seen on screen in Marriage Story. Before Marriage Story, I had never seen one of Baumbach’s films, but I get the sense from this film that he takes a very grounded approach to storytelling.

Marriage Story stars Adam Driver and Scarlet Johansson as Charlie and Nicole Barber. Charlie is an acclaimed theater director, and Nicole is his muse. Despite her acting skills, Charlie always receives all the praise, leaving Nicole to congratulate him from the back seat and contemplate what kind of professional movie and television acting career she possibly gave up to be with him. She also misses living in Los Angeles and being close to her family. At the center of this tenuous relationship is the couple’s young son, Henry. As things go from bad to worse in their relationship, Charlie and Nicole start down the path to divorce, initially wanting to approach everything amicably without involving lawyers, but quickly walking back on that as they begin to doubt each other’s motives and end goals, especially in regards to Henry.

Driver and Johansson both put on a masterclass of acting here, but I would have to give Driver my nod in choosing the stronger performance of the two. He is a tour de force in this film, unyielding to the unflinching camera. Alan Alda and Laura Dern keep pace with Driver and Johannson beat for beat as Bert Spitz and Nora Fanshaw, Charlie and Nicole’s lawyers. Baumbach smartly chooses not to wallow in the melodrama of the messy divorce, showing that small, flickering sparks of love still exist between Charlie and Nicole, maybe not enough to reignite the flame that brought them together in the first place, but enough to convince you that they still have a hope for some kind of happiness.

#3: Knives Out

After the Internet firestorm that was Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson did the best thing he could have possibly done—he went far, far away from any established franchises, rounded up an all-star ensemble cast, and wrote and directed his own original murder mystery film. Through some ingenious plotting, Johnson revitalizes the entire genre and turns the classic whodunit on its head, all the while delivering some timely social commentary. Complete with Daniel Craig delivering a monologue about donut holes in a southern gentleman accent, Knives Out is an absolute delight.

The events of the film center around the Thrombey family, with the main mystery beginning after patriarch and rich crime writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead in an apparent suicide the morning after his big 85th birthday party with his family at his mansion. An anonymous source informs private detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) of Harlan’s death and hires him to investigate.

A huge fan of classical mystery thrillers and comedies, Johnson’s love of the genre is tangible, but he never allows the narrative to become overly meta, referential, or even reverential, for that matter. I have already mentioned Craig and how much fun he looks like he is having in his role as Blanc, but Ana de Armas breaks out as Marta Cabrera, Harlan’s caretaker, and is the heart of the film. The rest of this high caliber ensemble cast has its moments, and I only felt like a couple of the characters were completely disposable, such as Jaeden Martell’s Jacob Thrombey, for example.

Johnson keeps his audience on its toes for the entire film. Just when the solution seems obvious, he throws another twist at them to throw them off the scent. It is a true shame that Knives Out received only one nomination from the Academy, but Johnson more than deserves that nomination for best original screenplay.

#2: Avengers: Endgame

It has all led up to this, the culmination of phases one through three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Admittedly, I was not the biggest fan of Avengers: Infinity War; I did not care for its overall slow pacing. Avengers: Endgame, however, is everything I wanted in this grand finale of the Infinity Saga. Whereas Infinity War felt overcrowded, Endgame brings it all back home to the original Avengers team for the majority of its surprisingly swift 182-minute run time, allowing them to essentially take a victory lap before the next phase of this cinematic universe begins. In the interest of not giving anything away, I will keep this brief, and trust me when I say that I could go on and on talking about how much I enjoyed this film. I will just end by saying that directors Anthony and Joe Russo and producer Kevin Feige certainly reward the dedication of fans who have watched all 21 films leading up to Endgame, and Robert Downey, Jr. submits one of his best performances as Tony Stark/Iron Man. #ILoveYou3000

#1: Parasite

Far and away my favorite film of 2019 was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, a South Korean dark comedy home-invasion thriller about a poor family plotting to improve their circumstances by tricking an extremely wealthy family into hiring them by posing as unrelated, highly skilled individuals.

I came into this film ignorant of its premise, and I was completely floored. This is Bong Joon-ho in total control of his craft. Parasite has a mesmeric rhythm to it that is aesthetically energized, allowing the film’s strikingly bold tonal shifts to work so well. Every act increases the ever-present nail-biting suspense, supplemented by cinematic moments of pure genius like the nearly five-minute long montage towards the end of the first hour. Every single member of the cast knocks it out of the park, and there is enough social commentary to fuel college essays for years. The twists zig when you think they are going to zag; it is a truly wild ride. To put it quite simply, Parasite is a masterpiece.

The following are a list of films I saw from 2019, in no particular order:

· Glass

· How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

· Captain Marvel

· Shazam!

· Avengers: Endgame

· Aladdin

· Booksmart

· Rocketman

· X-Men: Dark Phoenix

· Men in Black: International

· Toy Story 4

· Spider-Man: Far From Home

· Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

· Joker

· Parasite

· Jojo Rabbit

· The Lighthouse

· Doctor Sleep

· Ford v Ferrari

· Frozen II

· Knives Out

· Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

· 1917

· The Two Popes

· The Irishman

· Marriage Story

· El Camino

· Uncut Gems

· One Piece: Stampede

I somehow completely forgot I saw The Peanut Butter Falcon and absolutely adored it; I definitely recommend checking out this feel-good film.

My 2018 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/182182411291/movie-mania-top-10-of-2018

My 2017 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/171040800751/movie-mania-top-15-of-2017

My 2016 film list: https://kcaruth.tumblr.com/post/156340406236/movie-mania-top-15-of-2016

#movies #film #oscars #academy awards

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so-chaos-killed-the-dinosaurs · 7 years ago

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so why do accept the musical despite its massive changes?

Because despite the changes it is still the same story and many of the changes are due to the difference in platform. Things that where done on screen couldn't be replicated properly in musical format. Musicals also tend to be very emotion driven. They have songs based entirely around the emotions and thoughts of characters. Which make since. Since it isnt as easy to convey some emotions on stage as they do in movies. (Not everyone can clearly see the expression of all the characters faces nor catch all the little changes.) Like one of the biggest changes between the movie and musical is Kurt and Ram's funeral. That scene was a very big deal in the movie as it is the turning point. It is when Veronica realizes that JD is in the wrong and from then on she starts to fight against him and his beliefs. This is caused by her seeing Kurt's sister's reaction to his death. Now Kurt's sister didn't make a big scene in the movie. She looked back when she heard JD and Veronica laughing and that's when Veronica saw her face and realized just how distraught this child was. Now on stage in order to show this to the audience they would have had to make it a lot bigger in order for everyone to catch it. Like something where the sister was crying near or on her botherer's casket. Or crying loudly in her seat. Which they could have done but I don't really think it would have fit. Because if she did that it would be very noticeable to everyone. And one of the big things about the original scene is that it isn't a huge thing. It's a child silently crying in the front pew while wearing her brother's jacket. It's something Veronica catches but JD doesn't. There are probably other ways around this issue that they could have taken. But they didn't. And I do have an issue with that as it is a pretty important scene in the movie. However with most adaptations of stories into new media platforms some things will be lost. The musical isn't nearly as long as the movie so it couldn't fit in everything the movie did. And some changes are ok. Like the Harry Potter movies leave out a lot of big things from the books, but I know if they were to translate all the books from word to screen then some of the movies would have to be well upward of 8 hours long. So things are cut or changed. As long as the purpose or main point of the story is preserved then I am fine. Which the musical actually does achieve. (The Heathers musical had a tight budget. A longer show would cost more money especially if they where to create more songs.) They cut some of the character's personalities a bit, like Duke's which is one of the reasons I rank movie Duke higher than Musical Duke. But Duke's role and purpose is still there. She is still beautiful, and she still plays her main part with taking over Chandler's role and being there to help JD get the note together. She still fills her symbolic role, just not as well as her movie counterpart. The musical just doesn't do as well of a job as showing Duke's personality as the movie does. Which again makes since to me. Since a lot of the things in the movie that help show Duke's character are stuff like her facial expression and changes in her stance. Or her slow progression into a full red attire. Which could be expressed but would require bigger movements than their movie counterparts to make it clear to the entire audience, or cost more money when the musical is already known for not having that large of a budget. They could improve on how they express Duke in the musical though. The musical also needs a way to show JD's personality. Like I said Musicals are very emotional based. JD's issues are very mentally based. His backstory and mannerisms help show how he got to the point that he is at and how messed up he is. The musical takes what we learn about JD throughout the movie and expresses most of it in "Freeze Your Brian" giving us a lot of his family's backstory and showing how suicidal the boy already is. The musical does almost make JD come off in this softer way. But it doesn't. It just seems like that. JD is still beyond screwed up. His messed up ways were still there before he met Veronica. In both versions though Veronica does help get him to that God complex point. Just in different ways. In the Movie JD uses Veronica and her skills to get away with the murders. He uses her skills to kill people and get away with it and he "falls in love" with this power she has given him. And as such believes that he has fallen in love with her. He uses her as an excuse and gateway to kill. They've hurt this person who has given him this power and from his experiences with them they deserve to die. They have hurt this person who has shown him affection and a affection-less world. (Even though none of them deserved to die. Not even Kurt or Ram.) Veronica herself is a tool he uses to kill. Only once she poses a threat to this new God like position he has he decides to kill her. She had given him this ability and he wasn't about to let her take it away. He tries to ration this in his own mind by trying to convince himself that she had been tainted by society and that killing her was the only way to free her. In the musical JD also uses Veronica to kill, only in a slightly different manor. This JD is more emotionally fleshed out. It is a musical and they are emotionally based. This JD shows something that movie JD doesn't out right say till the end. That he believes that nobody loves him. He believes he is alone in the world and uses that pain and anger to also help motivate and try and rationalize his thought process (shown in both the movie and musical). This JD expressed that belief through his actions in the musical. By how attached he gets to Veronica and the obsession he gains for her. The mannerisms he has around her or the little thing he does throughout the musical. (That's actually why I like watching different productions of the musical because different actors play off JD in different ways just by how they have him move. Like in one production JD tickles and jokes with Veronica (something being more true to the movie) while she makes the call to Ram and Kurt, in another he is holding her in a manor that isn't out right threatening but can be seen in that manor.) For Musical JD not only is there this girl that is showing him care and claims to find him beautiful, but she has also given him the ability to wipe out anyone he deems unworthy of living. He is still crazy. He still has a God-Complex. Only this time he is more expressive than his movie counterpart. And he uses this "love" *cough*obsession*cough* he has for her to help reason why he should do what he is doing. "They made you cry". He still uses his bad home life and past school experience to give him his drive and reason to kill. But the musical version of him is a bit more emotional and Veronica focused than his original. Movie JD uses Veronica as a tool to kill, Musical JD uses his emotions for Veronica as a tool to kill. (Alongside Veronica.) (I can't believe I'm about to make this comparison but it's been on my mind since the resent Netflix movie release *shudder*. Ok. Death Note. In Death Note Light gains access of the Death Note and at first starts killing people he believes don't deserve to live. He thinks he is doing good by killing off criminals and people he has seen harass others. But this power gives him his God-Complex. He comes to believe that he is the God of the new world and will wipe out anyone who does not deserve to live on this new world. (The people that worship Kira of course doesn't help that god-complex. Especially not Misa.) And he has no limits. He will kill anyone. He becomes obsessed with the Death Note. His weapon to kill. Even though the Death Note itself isn't an purely evil or good thing. He is willing to destroy his own house in order to keep people from learning just who he is or how he does what he does. The reason I'm bringing this up is that Light's obsession with the Death Note and the resulting God-complex just reminds me of JD and his obsession with Veronica and his resulting God-complex. Both are people who in their minds believe they are the good guy. And both gain access to something that allows them to do what they do and they become obsessed with it and will do anything to keep it. Sorry I kinda lost where I was going with this and I'm on mobile and this is not the best way to try and get out a proper response to this but I won't have access to wifi on my laptop till Monday night.)I don't think JD had killed before Chandler, as his reaction was one of shock and he reacted as if he hadn't expected her to really die from the drano. In both versions though that is a turning point for JD. Because he just killed Heather Chandler. He killed her and then he got away with it. He killed someone who he believed was a bad person who deserved to die and he got away with it. In both versions this is when JD's God-Complex starts to emerge. JD's character still stays in both versions. JD is not some innocent baby he is a very messed up boy who really needs a ton of mental health and meds before he would ever be stable again. Other changes just fit for the musical. They had a limited amount of actors. So changing the Remington party to a homecoming party at Kurt/Ram's house (I can't remember whose it was at this moment) was something i understand. If they were to try and do the Remington part all the other casts members would need costume changes for that one scene in order to create these new characters for the Remington party. Having them mock Martha at the party isn't a big issue since it helps show more so who the Heathers are. The original draft of the movie actually has the Heathers do other mean things but they where cut from the movie for time purposes. (Like they changed the Snappy Snack Shack to 7-11 in the musical since 7-11 is what they used in the original draft of the movie.)Them combining Martha and Betty also isn't a big issue for me since like I have said it was a musical. They have limited time and combining the characters kept then from having two actor have to preform these separate characters over and over again for only actually small scene times on stage. Having Kurt, Ram and Heather appear as figments of Veronica's conscious helped them show Veronica's change over the musical and voice her inner thoughts. They help express the inner chaos that is happening in her head. The musical does change up things from the movie. But some either 1) Make sense to due the format. 2) Make sense due to timing and budget or 3) Are things that could be fixed but don't effect the story so much that the overall message and point is lost. The musical could use some repairs in certain areas. But the story and symbolism of the characters still remain. I hope I explained this ok. Like I mentioned I'm on my mobile and currently sitting in line waiting for a panel to start in 30 minutes. So I'm not really on the best thing to answer this with and I'm not in the best place either.

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spideycentral · 7 years ago

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Tony Revolori on Letting Go in the Audition Room, ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ + Wes Anderson

When Tony Revolori’s father, Mario Quinonez, was a 14-year-old in Guatemala, he received his first pair of shoes. When Revolori was 15, he became the first person in his family to visit Europe, at the invitation of Wes Anderson, to audition for a film that eventually won four Academy Awards.

The opportunity was the fulfillment of a dream his father had initially had for himself, though he never advanced beyond working as an extra after immigrating to America. “He was too shy to actually be on camera and say lines,” Revolori explains while sitting in the Beekman Hotel’s Fowler & Wells restaurant in mid-May. But once Quinonez became a father, acting seemed a good way for Tony and his older son, Mario Revolori (they use their paternal grandmother’s name professionally), to start saving for college. “ ‘I would love for you guys to be actors, but I would never force that upon you,’ ” Revolori remembers his dad saying.

It was two years before Revolori’s trip to meet Anderson that his dad sat him and Mario down to ask, “What is it that you love?” The boys chose acting and music. (Revolori also sings and plays four instruments.) “He was like, ‘Great. Well, that’s your 9-to-5 job now,’ ” Revolori recalls. From then on, the family drove the 60-mile round trip from Anaheim, California, to Los Angeles “more than seven times a week for auditions,” with the duo “getting rejected a thousand times a year.”

Then they auditioned for an untitled Wes Anderson project. The director considered tapes of thousands of kids from numerous countries for the role of Zero, the teenage lobby boy who engineers the prison escape of his concierge mentor (Ralph Fiennes), kills his would-be killer (Willem Dafoe), and inherits the Grand Budapest Hotel. Two possibilities emerged—Mario and Tony—before Anderson sent the latter a plane ticket.

As an unaccompanied minor, he remembers, “I stayed there for 17 hours while the flight there was 14 hours, both ways.” He returned to the States without the part. Instead, Revolori and Anderson exchanged many emails. “I would tape myself doing the whole entire script,” he says. “It was basically pseudo-rehearsal,” and he began to think of Anderson “very much like a godfather to me in terms of acting.” Four months later, he got the offer for the film that would lead the young talent not only to the 2015 Oscars, but to “Dope,” the Sundance Film Festival hit that was so well attended, James Franco “couldn’t get a seat” and stood in the back for one screening.

The Rick Famuyiwa film about sweet, high-achieving ’90s-lovers out of Inglewood, California, who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time launched a studio bidding war and was nominated for the festival’s Grand Jury Prize. Casting director Kim Coleman had Revolori try out before anyone else, but in total, he “auditioned for the project maybe 20 times,” he says, reading with different potential co-stars. Once again, at the very end, he was pitted against his brother. This would happen a third time, for a recurring role on the combination live-action-animated series “Son of Zorn,” which was canceled in May after one season on Fox. “That was the one time my brother audibly said, ‘I fucking hate you. This is bullshit. It’s unfair,’ ” admits Revolori. “I was like, ‘It 100 percent is, but I’m going to take the part.’ ”

Last year, around the time he was filming his latest project, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (out July 7), Revolori had an epiphany. “When you walk into an audition room, and you go in with such desperation that you want this, they smell it and they’re like, ‘Nope, immediately no,’ ” he says. “The thing that happened that pushed me over the edge was auditioning with a couple of people, and then them saying, ‘Oh, no, we’re not going to cast you because you’re brown.’ So I said, ‘Fuck this,’ and the next audition I went to, I didn’t give a shit.” He booked that job. Now, he sometimes cold-reads on purpose. “When you don’t need [the part], they want you so much more,” he explains, especially if you “mix that in with confidence, not arrogance.” Since relaying this discovery to Mario, Revolori says, “he’s been booking nonstop.”

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” will bring together a cadre of Marvel heavy hitters, including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Vulture (Michael Keaton). Revolori auditioned to play the best friend to Peter Parker (Tom Holland), Ned Leeds, but was awarded a larger role in Flash Thompson, Parker’s high school rival who eventually becomes Agent Venom. The casting marks the 21-year-old’s first unlikable character.

Without being asked, Revolori says he gained 55 pounds of muscle to play Thompson, who’d been reconceptualized for this film as a rich kid rather than a jock. Still, he reasoned, “I’m not white, I’m not blond [with] blue eyes”—as the character was in the comics—“but I’m me, and I’m going to do my best to emulate that character for you guys, because this is who it’s for.”

Until he joined the Spider-Man franchise, Revolori says, “I’d never been in a place where it takes you two hours for four takes of a scene, just because they have all the stunts.... I felt like I couldn’t get in a rhythm.” On the plus side, “They can afford to be a little bit more lenient and say, ‘Well, what if we try this? We can change this scene completely.’ ” The same can’t be said for indies. “It’s a lot different,” he says. “You work on something like ‘Dope,’ you drive yourself to set, [work with] a very small crew, and you’re all just working day and night as hard as you can, there are no breaks…. You’re on your feet and you’re moving—’cause you have to be.”

On this new role in “Spider-Man,” he says, “I feel like that’s a better move for my career. I want to be respected by my peers and be a prestige actor.” That’s not to say he wants to remain solely in front of the camera; he also wants to direct one day, as well as stay active in the theater. (In February, he made his West End debut in Stephen Karam’s play “Speech and Debate,” about a teacher-student sex scandal.) “I also don’t mind doing superhero movies and what makes kids smile,” he says.

Despite his many illustrious collaborators, Revolori’s most valued piece of industry advice comes from someone he met only once. His mother works at a restaurant in Studio City, and around the time he and Mario told their dad that their passion was acting, she called home to alert them that Dick Smothers—half of the legendary comedy duo the Smothers Brothers—was there having breakfast with his wife. Thanks to YouTube, “I was a huge fan,” says Revolori, so he and Mario dashed over.

“We walk up to him and we shake his hand and we talk to him, and it’s amazing!” Revolori gushes. When they informed him that they were budding actors, Smothers (who once gave a 22-year-old Steve Martin a job) said, “ ‘You guys remind me a lot of me and my brother [Tom],’ ” and proffered this bit of wisdom, made especially poignant by the fact that Smothers later declared bankruptcy: “ ‘Treat everyone like they’re the most important person in the world. Because guess what? Tomorrow they might be. Yesterday they might have been. Today they will be.’ ” As an early teen, Revolori says he replied, “ ‘Great, yeah, yay, woohoo, thank you!’ But as an adult, I understand that so much more now. And so that’s what I’ve tried to carry with myself as much as possible.”

#tony revolori #news #article #long post

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uniquequotesonlife · 5 years ago

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10 Best Movies of 2019 (So Far)

With the summer movie season winding down, we look back at the top 10 films cinema has had to offer this far into 2019.

The summer movie season of 2019 is over. While the heat continues to swelter, and school by and large remains out, the final weekend of new Hollywood blockbuster extravaganzas has sped off the scene like a getaway car. And given the box office receipts for most of the studio tentpoles this year, we imagine the whole industry is ready to put the summer behind them. Be that as it may, cinema remains strong, hence why we think is the perfect time to look back on the year so far. While many others like to take stock of the movie calendar at the literal halfway mark that occurs at the end of June, we prefer letting the biggest moviegoing season to wrap up and only start reflecting during the deep breath before film festivals like TIFF and Telluride kick off the awards season. Indeed, you’ll see below that this July and August have been unusually fruitful. Looking back at the first seven-plus months of 2019 reveals that, for whatever box office hand-wringing, it’s already been a promising time for new voices making an impact and legendary auteurs communicating with the changing filmmaking landscape. So without further ado, please join us in celebrating the top 10 movies of 2019. So far.

10. The Peanut Butter Falcon

Tall tales and the myths they build can be stronger than any river current in the American South. Many of the best works of fiction from that part of the country embrace such grandiosity, and The Peanut Butter Falcon is no exception. An infinitely sweet film populated with outsized personalities, directors Tyler Nilson and Mike Schwartz’s transcendentalist adventure was one of the biggest surprises out of SXSW earlier this year, and months later it still radiates an authentic breezy charm. Very much a modern day Huckleberry Finn for those labeled as disabled or special needs, the film crafts its own legend around Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down Syndrome that society wishes to forget. Save for Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), his concerned doctor at the retirement home the state abandoned him in, no one really cares when Zak escapes to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Yet a dispiriting prologue gives way to the loveliest journey as Zak befriends Tyler (Shia LaBeouf) and hitches a ride with the good ol’ boy on a raft floating down the North Carolina Outer Banks. It’s a movie happily supplied with homespun love and wonderfully textured characters, including all three leads, among whom LaBeouf proves nigh unrecognizable as the reluctant Good Samaritan by way of Mark Twain’s St. Petersburg.

9. Luce

The best movies provoke discussion, and few this year will be as challenging as the conversations borne by director Julius Onah and screenwriter J.C. Lee’s Luce. A film based on Lee’s own play, the movie interrogates the idea of the American Dream and wonders if even when it comes true, how much of that is a manipulation by those who espouse skepticism of it. The film is about a star athlete and valedictorian named Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Actually, Luce was just what his parents (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth) made up after they adopted him from a war-torn African nation, unable to pronounce his birth name. Even so, he very much is their son and not only the apple of their eye, but that of his whole school. Perhaps this is why his teacher, Ms. Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), holds him to a different standard than his other African American peers. It’s a story about a school-sized tinderbox of good intentions that threatens to ignite after Harriet finds illegal fireworks in Luce’s locker, all of which bubbles with the tension of a thriller even as it plays like a truth-searching drama. Luce is a Rorschach Test for both the characters and audiences to examine their own racial biases, and the hypocrisy of expectations. Nevertheless, the film exceeds ours.

8. Avengers: Endgame

It would be easy in more cynical circles to shrug off Avengers: Endgame as the ultimate fan service movie, and in fact it is. But after 11 years of world-building, and the even more impressive franchise-building occurring outside of its continuity, Marvel Studios’ 22nd installment is the grandest of commercial and long-form narrative achievements. By making a series finale to all the movies that came before it, including the cliffhanger in Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and his legion of collaborators, most notably directors Joe and Anthony Russo, and Iron Man star Robert Downey Jr., find the rare quality that most eludes traditional television storytellers: a fully satisfying ending. At three hours, Avengers: Endgame rises above almost anything else Marvel has ever produced and acts as a pseudo-manifesto for the studio. While many of the parts are lesser than the whole, the tight storytelling and tonal consistency over nearly two dozen films pays off with the kind of multi-tiered catharsis and spectacle that drives global moviegoers into theaters by the tens of millions. Not since the days of Cecil B. DeMille has there been an epic so brimming with familiar faces, but unlike the overstuffed Infinity War, this showmanship is wrapped in a bow of gracefulness. This is the ultimate Marvel Studios movie. With a renewal of the charisma and humanity Downey first brought to this enterprise, there is a creative spark shining bright here… and that leaves open the question of how Marvel can possibly repeat this high-note, both in terms of heart and gross, ever again.

7. Toy Story 4

Toy Story 4 didn't need to be made. The ending of 2010’s Toy Story 3 was the perfect conclusion to a saga that began the day a child named Andy first played with a cowboy doll called Woody. Yet we’re so glad that Toy Story 4 exists, as Pixar discovered a soulful epilogue to the characters who first made the studio the preeminent animation house of the 21st century. Essentially a coda to an already finished yarn, Pixar’s elegant solution to being required to return to the childhood daydream of Woody and Buzz Lightyear is to permanently wrap-up their shared journey in the most adult of ways. On the surface, this is another story about Woody (Tom Hanks) trying to teach a wayward toy its purpose, in this case a do-it-yourself Frankenstein’s Monster named Forky (Tony Hale). But Toy Story 4 raises a much more interesting question about what would make Woody want to move on with his life as a lost toy? Experiencing something akin to a midlife crisis when he crosses paths with old flame Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Woody is asked to change his perspective of what life is meant to be after reaching a certain age, just as a post-John Lasseter Pixar discovers a new and hopefully more inclusive identity. This movie does, after all, finally give Bo Peep depth and a humanity as heart-rending as anything to do with the cowboy that has a snake in his boot. Not bad for characters made of cloth and porcelain.

6. Midsommar

If you ever wanted a movie to burn down your toxic relationship, Midsommar is gasoline that comes with already lit flames. As Ari Aster’s heartfelt explanation of why some people do not belong together, this Swedish set film turns cult-based horror on its head and reverses everything you might expect from the director of Hereditary. Bringing horror out into the sunshine, Midsommar presents a world that is as shadowless as it is pitiless. Taking place almost entirely during the July rituals of an obscure (and fictional) Pagan commune, the film provides a set of antagonists who might kill you with kindness while displaying an egalitarian empathy as foreign to modern (and selfish) American traditions as their deadlier customs. This creates a striking backdrop to a potent allegory about why Florence Pugh’s Dani and Jack Reynor’s Christian really should have broken up long ago. Pugh is especially haunting as a young woman who’s in a state of perpetual trauma after hanging on to a worn-out band aid in need of tearing for six months. Her harrowing epiphany adds an insidious persuasiveness to cruel machinations that turn cooing Millennial intellectuals into horror’s new dumb American red meat. And the fumes produced by their roasting are quite beautiful, indeed.

5. The Farewell

Another film about the shock incurred by contrasting cultures, The Farewell is also a gorgeously realized portrait of a woman who feels drawn yet alienated by both sides of her identity. But whatever confusion she might experience is supplanted by an absolute love for her grandmother and the connection that elder represents to an ever-fading past. Writer-director Lulu Wang’s incredibly personal drama is equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, all while never once making a single false step in its unusual path through grief—one that must be made in total silence. The Farewell centers on Awkwafina’s Billi, a 30-year-old New Yorker who was born in China and was only six when her parents moved to the States, leaving a vague impression of an idyllic childhood with her grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhou). However, what exactly this feeling of severed identity means to Billi comes to the surface when Nai Nai is diagnosed with lung cancer… something that her family will not tell her of because in China, it is the family’s emotional burden to carry the knowledge of a seeming death sentence. Believing she only is suffering from a cold, Nai Nai is thrilled that her adult children from America and Japan are returning home for a wedding that is in reality a pretense for everyone to say goodbye—although not Billi. Her parents think she’ll crack and admit this pantomime. Thus she must crash her grandmother’s own living wake. Billi’s saddened homecoming is constantly juxtaposed by her grandmother’s glowing delight to have a full house again. Occupying the space between tragedy and joy, Billi’s Western apprehension to Chinese custom and her longing to reconnect with it, Wang finds a canvas to paint every shade of anguish and exhilaration offered by nostalgia and an unfamiliar heritage. Awkwafina also confirms she is a star on the rise by carrying this intimate tragi-comedy with a role that requires her to speak in English, in Chinese, and most impressively not at all, while still saying everything.

4. Us

Jordan Peele follows up his directorial debut with another horror movie that will be dissected and debated for a long time to come. More ambitious than Get Out, and arguably the most vividly photographed chiller in ages, Us is bigger but still razor-focused on its subject. A massive allegory about class warfare turning storybook supernatural, Peele imagines a conflict between the haves and have-nots in American society while noting that, at the heart of the matter, they’re the same exact type of people. With a deft touch and sense of humor that is as refreshing as it was in Get Out, Peele introduces audiences to the Wilson family, who have seemingly everything but are still envious of keeping up with the proverbial (white) Joneses. For patriarch Gabe (Winston Duke), this can be accepted as a point of obliviousness, but Lupita Nyong’o’s Adelaide cannot feign such innocence as she has seen the face of want and hunger—it was her own—and she left it to rot. Yet it rises for her again when “Red,” her doppelganger she once spied in a funhouse mirror, comes home with equally twisted doubles of her family. It is a tour de force showcase for Nyong’o, who gives an Oscar-worthy turn as both Adelaide and Red. Us provides a juicy parable as rich as the best Twilight Zone storytelling by Rod Serling that inspired it. The end might overreach, but the breadth of its vision and arm remains an inspiration.

3. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

You cannot hate a place unless you love it. This is a paradox that Joe Talbot and Jimmie Fails’ The Last Black Man in San Francisco posits with illuminating insight. An epic poem for the modern age of gentrification, this is a movie that focuses on a Bay City whose skyrocketing real estate has pushed the faces and hands that built its skyline to the fringes. It’s a fact of life encapsulated by an opening image of a young black girl going to school by the edge of saltwater so poisonous that city employees will only venture there in hazmat suits. Pushed literally to the edge of society, Jimmie Fails—a character played by the man who has lived this life and wrote the story down—dreams of reclaiming what was once his family’s birthright: a Victorian home in the Golden Gate area that his grandfather claims to have built with his own hands. It is now owned by a privileged middle aged white couple, yet when they enter into an inheritance dispute with relatives, an opportunity opens up for Jimmie and his best friend Montgomery (Jonathan Majors) to move in as squatters. This is a lyrical love letter to cities that no longer exist, and landscapes that once allowed dignity for those who toiled in them. Obviously it is Jimmie’s personal life story, but it is the insights of Montgomery, Emile Mosseri’s mournful score, and Adam Newport-Berra’s surreal camera setups that elevate Last Man’s song and verse into a celestial elegy. One which provides as much hope as it does despair.

2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

The arrival of a new Quentin Tarantino movie always comes with debate and some degree of controversy. But when the smoke clears, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood will be remembered as one of his very best. A film that demands multiple viewings, Once Upon a Time is the rare major studio movie that requires you to meet it on its own terms, a sad fact Tarantino is aware of and deconstructs with a surprising degree of wistful melancholy. An obvious love letter to the long-gone Hollywood of the 1960s, which by ’69 saw the studio system in its death throes, the movie is also a commentary of our own cultural moment where auteurs pursuing massive original ideas, like Tarantino, and movie stars not defined by what cape they’ve worn on screen, like Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, are almost a thing of the past. Tarantino’s elegiac meditation is as much about his and movie stars’ own setting sun as it is the Hollywood movies he grew up on, but it is also an unimaginably ambitious and celebratory film that dismisses plot and audience expectations that have been flattened by a decade of formula. Here is a film that revels in just chilling out with morally ambiguous characters while also offering a vessel that connects the past and present via giddy historical revisionist madness. Starring DiCaprio and Pitt as fading TV star Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff Booth, the film champions the intangible alchemy between charisma and cinema, providing both with their best material in years. Pitt may, in fact, have never been better than as the smiling cowboy whose high noon is with a counterculture that is burying his and Rick’s livelihoods. Their journeys, meanwhile, are paralleled by the rise of a new star named Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and the youthful change she represents. The importance of Sharon, and her subtly interconnected world, is determined by how much you know of her going in. For those who do, she is more than just the idol of her age; she is the soul of Tarantino’s sweetest movie, both in terms of its ‘60s setting and its desire to divorce a lifetime of light from the specter of Charles Manson’s half-century of darkness. Unlike Tarantino’s last three pictures, this isn’t about revenge; it’s a bedtime yarn dreaming of salvation for Hollywood, for culture, and for a legacy that can live on past 26 years.

1. Booksmart

Despite her celebrity, Olivia Wilde has always seemed a little underrated as an actor. That should change going forward as Wilde also announces herself as a major directorial talent with Booksmart. A pitch-perfect comedy that writes a teen anthem for the next generation, Booksmart proves that the cinematic R-rated comedy is not dead, and further it can only get better as it invites new diverse voices to reconfigure the form. Among those voices accompanying Wilde are screenwriters like Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman, and a fresh-faced cast that is more than game to refocus the coming-of-age narrative on the type of nerdy young women who previously might’ve been lucky to be in the fuzzy background, if included at all. Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein make a banquet out of protagonists Amy and Molly, two Type A’s who are Ivy League-bound and think the perfect night before graduation is watching Ken Burns documentaries. But upon realizing that all the supposed flakes they wrote off in their senior class are also headed toward bright futures after four years of partying, Molly will make up for missing out by dragging Amy on an odyssey toward the perfect Gen-Z high school party. So there you have it, the 10 best movies of the year so far. Agree? Disagree? Did we leave something off? Let us know in the comment section below! Sourcehttps://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/282640/best-movies-2019 Read the full article

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willowelijah · 7 years ago

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Like Two Drops of Water: Ch 4

A spideychelle fanfic.

Read on fanfiction.net

On tumblr: (Ch 1) (Ch 2) (Ch 3) (Ch 5)

Summary: Michelle and Peter are just best friends. When Michelle gets asked to the homecoming dance, Peter gets jealous. When she falls for Spider-Man, Peter gets jealous (of himself). Suddenly it seems maybe they weren’t “just best friends”, after all.

Chapter 4

“I’m going to walk you home.” I declared once I’d finally made my way through the crowd of students and caught up with M.J.

She groaned in response. “Why do you suddenly feel the need to walk me home Peter?”

“I’ve always felt the need, I’ve just never acted on it until today.” I explained, feeling the need to prove to her exactly how important this was to me by making my voice as genuine as possible. “It’s dangerous out there, you know.”

She looked me dead in the eyes, not believing a word I was saying. “You’re not going to walk me home.” She stated definitely while shaking her head.

“I’m going to walk you home.” I repeated, just as definitely as she had. I do believe I had her convinced, or at least given up because she only sighed at my antics. And so it was decided that I was going to follow her home, since she never made any other commands. Instead she toddled along my side while I toddled along hers.

We made our way toward the subway, walking through the streets of New York. I decided to tread lightly ahead with some jokey small talk. “So, how’s everything with you?” I asked, for a moment pretending that we were the sorts of friends who asked each other how we were.

M.J. was still obviously annoyed with me and she shot me a glare. But in a moment of what I assumed to be miniscule compassion, she decided to go along with it. “Swell.” But before I had a chance to celebrate, she added, “Until you showed up, now I’m just annoyed.” Maybe I should have my spider senses checked, as I seemed to have just mixed up compassion with devious intent, a bit of a long shot to say the least.

I refused to be discouraged however. A perfect diversion, I thought. I had just steered the conversation into something the subject had an interest in to forget about the previous interaction — the subject’s interest in this case being to insult me.

“No, I don’t think so.” I countered. “I think I showed up, and you’re annoyed, but I don’t think those are correlated. Which is an important distinction to make.”

“I think those are correlated, because I am very much annoyed with you.”

I put on my evidently false tone of concern. “You’re starting to sound like a conspirator. Not everything is correlated, M.J.” I gave her a crooked smile, like I’d just instilled some knowledge in her, which I knew would make her incendiary at the least.

But before she had a chance to bring down the apocalypse, before she had a chance to reply, before anything at all had a chance to happen, a loud cry from the alley we were just passing was heard and a threatening voice came with a “shut up!” in response.

I had to think fast. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and caused all my senses to calm, which in return made me focus. I could feel every sneeze, every path or probable yawn. Every turn, every escape, every stain or possible mishap that could set everything falling into pieces came and they all came cascading into my conscience. Three people, one was a victim of course, the others not so much.

M.J. ran. Unfortunately, not quite in the direction I had wished she would.

“Don’t run to the scene!” I despaired to myself in a hushed panic, seeing as the damage was already done and M.J. was running into the alleyway toward the two large men.

It did give me a chance to get in character however, so not all was lost. I passed the corner, out of M.J.’s sight, and once I had made sure none of the few people on the street were paying attention to me, I slid my mask on. Once I’d gotten that out of the way I was free to get in the suit as quickly as I possibly could without having to mind anyone else.

With a quick locking of my bag to the wall where no one could reach it, I webbed my way upward the roof of the building, figuring I should arrive from a different point than where Peter had last been seen. Frankly, there was a whole art to this double life, an art which had gotten more complex lately than ever.

Thankfully, no gunfire had been heard as of yet, which was a small comfort to my rising nausea. As I gazed over the border of the building, down toward the scene, I prayed they didn’t have guns. To my immediate horror however, one of the men was pointing a very much existent gun at M.J., whose hands were stretched out in front of her. “You need to put your gun down.” M.J. was saying breathlessly.

I’ll put his gun down, I thought in anger. I’ll put him down.

In one motion I shot my web so that it latched itself onto his hand holding the gun and pulled it toward me with as great force as I could. Whoops. Turns out his whole body came with him and he was now hanging like he’d just bungee jumped from the top of the building into this alley. Not one of New York’s top tourist attractions, but I was quite content with what I’d achieved. Before the other guy could do anything, I shot my rapid-fire web at him in copious amounts until he was soaked in it while the hanging guy kept yelling.

To finish my work of I secured the hanging guy with some extra web to make sure he wouldn’t drop and henceforth did the same to the other guy. I allowed myself to take a breath and register the danger to be over before I made my way down toward M.J. As I lowered myself in an upside down position, slowly making my way toward her, I noticed that the original victim was nowhere to be found. It’s what I usually call a runner. As soon as the danger is over, they disappear out of nowhere. I was used to them. And in all honestly, I often found those cases a relief. No excessive hugging, no crying to be comforted or thank you’s to be welcomed. Clean break. And since it’s already honesty hour, I can share that I would in fact probably be a runner myself.

I turned back to an upright position while I descended onto the ground next to her. All she did was stare at me, mystified at what had just happened, before she finally managed to snap out of her trance. She glanced at the ground, to my surprise looking mildly uncomfortable. “So…” She began, sinking her hands into her pockets slowly. I stared at her just like she had at me.

The thought hit me that I didn’t have a clue how I was possibly going to get out of the suit and then return as Peter Parker immediately without it being blatantly obvious to M.J. what was actually going on. Or making myself, Peter that is, seem like an absolute asshole. Although on second thought, that ship had already sailed. As Peter Parker was nowhere to be seen evidently.

“Thanks, I guess.” She mumbled then, and I took it wholeheartedly. At least there was no excessive hugging. I take that back, please let there be excessive hugging.

But no hugging came out of her, instead she awkwardly began, “…I’m heading to the subw—”

“You don’t need the subway.” I interrupted in a sudden surge of confidence, how odd it felt that our roles were reversed. With a yelp from her I slung us away from the alley in a flash. I swung us across the city, very much enjoying acting like the heroic champion I didn’t typically get to feel like around Michelle. I decided there and then that if I couldn’t make Peter a hero in her eyes, I was going to make Spider-Man everything Peter had always wanted to be, in that way, at least one part of me could be content.

Once we’d gotten to her apartment building, and M.J. had in a somewhat drunken manner stumbled in through the window, it dawned on me how relieved I felt at seeing her safe and whole in the comforts of her own home again. It made me frantic, the relief I felt.

“You’re an idiot for running into that back alley!” was the first thing I blurted out once I’d stepped inside after her. I wanted to make her feel bad about what she had done, prevent her from doing any such thing again.

“It’s my responsibility, spider-guy.” She said, her confident self being back with full force. She sat down on the armrest of her couch. Her words threw me back a little. There was very little room for me to argue that point, seeing as it’s my own.

“You know you can just call me Spider-Man like most decent people do.” I proposed instead.

“Nah, doesn’t really sit right with me.” She explained casually. “Maybe if you grew a bread.” Her suggestion was confronting, and she leaned forward slightly, eyes fixed on their target. She had me just as nervous as I could imagine her intent was, and she smiled smugly.

“Maybe I do have a beard, how could you possibly know?” I contradicted, briefly wondering if her challenging manner could be interpreted as flirtatious or not. But I didn’t dare make any assertion.

“I’m just going to have to see for myself.” She declared smoothly. In one swift movement later, she was stood right in front of me looking very much like M.J. commonly does. Her trademark flannel on, hair hanging where it usually hangs, which is really where the whole problem of declining control sets of in the first place. Before I had any chance to get used to her close proximity, if I ever could, her hand was already on the hem of my mask.

“No!” I exclaimed and grabbed hold of her arms to stop her from moving so much as a centimeter more than she already had.

“What?” She inquired. She looked stumped. “You’re not going to show me who you are?” She asked, sounding more shocked than I had expected her to.

“Well, that would pretty much defeat the whole purpose of the disguise wouldn’t it?” I jeered, still with her wrists in my hands. M.J. seemed downright offended at my lack of cooperation, and I let her. This was one of the very few things I was absolutely certain of. No one got to look beyond the mask. Except for the ones who already had.

“Who are you?” She pushed in a murmur, letting her curiosity replace the offence she had previously felt.

“I'm…” I began, unsure what I could say to satisfy her. “Someone entirely different. I don’t think you’d like him a whole lot.” Which at the moment, seemed fairly true, how could M.J. like me after having seemingly abandoned her a second time. My mood plumed at that thought, leaving me feeling empty.

She looked annoyed while she searched my face. “You do realize the only thing separating you are spandex, right? People have had inner conflict over bigger things. Get over yourself.” She snapped. I wasn’t sure if her annoyance was leftovers from me refusing to tell her who I was, or something more recent…

“It wasn’t the suit who tore that guy away from he out there, you do realize that, right?” She fiercely pointed out the window in the general direction of the crime scene. Her features turned soft and genuine, “It was you.” She said.

I watched her curiously. She made it sound so simple, and she didn’t just make it sound simple, she made it feel simple. I let my mind notice that we were face to face. Close. I let her move closer, let her hands slip up toward that consecrated hem. I let her tell me she wouldn’t lift the whole mask. I let her promise.

Her mouth was now pretty close to mine. I tried and failed at holding back a gulp. “This could never happen.” I whispered underneath my breath.

“I know.” She whispered back, closer than she’d ever been to the, now bare, lower half of my face.

“It’s too dangerous.”

M.J. smiled and rolled her eyes. “I know.” She whispered with a small hint of sarcasm. “You have to protect me from the face of danger.”

I would have laughed had I not been under a minor hypnosis. Eventually I breathed out a distant, “Yeah…”

“Maybe you should tell that to Peter.” She continued. The words hit hard and my hypnosis lifted like all gravity was lost. I backed away from her and she frowned confusedly.

I suddenly felt very twitchy, like I couldn’t really focus on one thing. The guilt I felt had risen to the surface again. “Yeah, I’ll talk to Peter about that.” I assured her, appearance now of utmost vigor. “He probably has a lot on his mind. But I’m going to tell him he needs to check where his priorities lie.” I rambled while fidgeting badly.

“Yeah, you do that.” M.J. humored me with an amused tint to her expression. “And tell him he needs to stop wearing those geeky t-shirts that say things like, ‘Why can you never trust an atom? They make up everything!’ It’s getting a little carried away. Unhealthy, even.”

I stopped in my tracks. “You don’t like science t-shirts?” I realized subsequently that I was sounding judgmental in the middle of my crisis. “I should go.” I stuttered and left that same way I had come and leaving her mouth hanging open, without a chance to reply.

Once I was home again in my darkly lit room I got a chance to look at my phone that had been inside my bag, taped to a building for an hour or two. Eventually, when I’d gone through and replied to all of Ned’s propositions and queries and the likes, I read a text Michelle’s just sent me.

Where did you go? You just disappeared.

I was sat at my bed, everything around me was either a dark blue shadow or yellowy orange from the streetlights and I was staring at the text. The heroic act from before had worn of and I felt more like Peter Parker than I’d ever felt before. Fuck Spider-Man, I thought. I told myself, I begged myself and I promised myself that if I could do it in spandex, I could in fact do it without.

—

A/N: Did you like or dislike anything? Have any general thoughts?

17 August 2017

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