#athena gets war (childhood) flashbacks

[starlitvick]

Athena: deciding to go easy on Telemachus while they’re sparring to brighten his spirits because he’s getting bummed out from sucking at using a spear

Telemachus: actually doing pretty decent since Athena is fighting like she normally would

Zeus, sensing that someone is actually doing a good job at fighting Athena: THUNDER

Telemachus: “where did that thunder come from? It’s sunny.”

Athena, who has thunder trauma: stabs out of defensive reflex

@mer-acle this is the poor explanation of what you inspired me to write

[lovecolibri]

SaL anon here bestie, here to join in on the dissatisfaction train if your up for it. Let's list off somethings shall we and see what they remind you of. Relationships, romantic and platonic, that sucked people in in the initial seasons being now completely neglected/non-existent. A beloved character constantly being regressed to old behavior because the showrunner can't seem to come up with a storyline for them that shows their growth. Bottle episodes that don't make any sense to pop up when

they do since it delays other key plot lines. Events that should be impactful to multiple characters don't lead to any meaningful interactions. People getting criticized for pointing out how poorly things are being handled by other fans who insist it's the best thing ever. And let's not forget forcing unlikable/self-insert characters down our throats in places they don't belong while ignoring the existence of the ones we were interested in. Yup, you guessed it, I'm again  forced to compare 911 to RNM because this all feels like S3/S4 deja vu and I do not have the patience for that nonsense again. And no, we are nowhere near as bad off as what shitshow put us through, we still have some really good character stories and truly fun moments, but i feel like the cracks are showing. The ensemble show is rapidly feeling not-very-ensembly and it's disappointing. Add to that just the frustration of Buck never having a storyline where he actually gets to  address his trauma or his issues and it's no surprise people's patience is thin. And yes, the sperm donor nonsense hasn't fully played out, but did they really need to have a growth arc for Buck centered around guest characters that, when it's mentioned around his family, it's played for laughs?? We all thought surely the whole TayKay BS would give us something good last season, but instead she left with Buck's blessing, her terrible character flaws ignored. Just, I'm so tired 😔

My friend as usual we are absolutely on the same page! I haven’t been on as much and have been binging through some fic instead to make me feel a little better because on the one hand I absolutely cannot with the toxic positivity (not that everyone being positive about the show is “toxic” but you all know what I mean, the “if you have a single criticism, you’re stupid and should quit watching the show you obviously hate and don’t understand” crowd), but on the other I’m still overall having WAY more fun watching the episodes when they air than I did last season so I can’t really deal with the utterly hopeless, everything is awful crowd either! I’m just such a mix of emotions about everything right now (lady time hormones are NOT helping either) that it’s hard to know how to feel.

You’re SOOO right about the RNM war flashbacks though! While yes, 911 isn’t nearly as bad as the last 3 seasons of Plothole New Mexico, the similarities are...pretty startling and deeply frustrating! It’s always been odd that 911 didn’t have characters interacting with each other (Maddie and Eddie have never had a one-on-one scene despite being two of the most important people in Buck’s life and IT’S WEIRD!), but you almost didn’t really notice because there were so many good group scenes with most of the characters and everyone really felt like one big family. But now, the focus seems to have shifted so much to these new/different dynamics, and the show is completely ignoring the old ones so much so that it’s becoming more jarring instead of an enjoyable addition to the dynamics we know and love. @canonicallyobserving911 made a brilliant post recently about how the continuity and closure of storylines is being affected by this shift, not just with Buddie but things like Athena going through a major trauma and shift on her whole childhood friendship with someone and there being zero scenes with Hen about it, the person she first told about the girl going missing in the first place. I also mentioned how the scenes and dynamics with the firefam we are getting, especially in recent episodes, is basically just used for comic relief. Buck and Hen get close to some real talk but only while being drunk so the scene is still “silly”, and Eddie and Chim, while being a lot of fun to see together, have also only been used for the levity in the episodes. I love seeing them having fun, but given they are the two men who have had the mothers of their children leave, it feels like we should be getting some deeper scenes with them instead of just surface-level “fun” to keep the episodes “light”. (Not to mention BS like the tsunami coming up with some rando actress barely older than May instead of with someone we know and care about, and Buck not even being mentioned at all. I am....still eating glass about that nonsense.) 

And Buck....whoooo boy is Buck the Michael Guerin of this show. He of course isn’t treated nearly as badly by his found family as Michael often was, especially this past season, but the writing has been shying away from ever letting Buck truly deal with stuff. And I don’t want to hear any of that “healing isn’t linear” BS because a) it’s TV and it kinda has to be a little bit to keep things flowing, and b) that isn’t the point. We aren’t seeing Buck having momentary set backs that he overcomes like we’ve seen with Bobby and his alcoholism, we’re getting cyclical “one step forward, two steps back” storylines. We see a plot introduced, Buck spirals a bit and does something dumb, get’s lectured, rinse and repeat. I thought s4 and seeing him in therapy, seeing him snap at his parents (”Love me anyway” scene my absolute fucking beloved), seeing Eddie validate his feelings and Chim being a calming but firm presence helping back up both Maddie AND Buck, would really lead to some growth. But then Eddie got shot and we didn’t get a single scene of the firefam comforting him, or telling him they understood because all those kinds of scenes were used to wedge fucking Tay Kay into everything and the firefam scene we got was Bobby snapping at Buck, with no follow up of them talking about how worried Bobby was about both Buck AND Eddie. S5 could have given us more growth with Buck realizing he can and should step away from a relationship that isn’t bringing him any joy or providing him any of the support he needs. And had they made that call to wrap it up in 5a we might have gotten to see that more clearly, and then had Buck free to be the support for other storylines that SHOULD have been the major arcs for 5b like Maddie and Chim, Eddie’s breakdown, and we really should have gotten *something* for Bobby to do since his shooting was immediately forgotten and never mentioned again either, but then he had a whole celling fall on his back (you know, the one that was hurt originally, leading to his substance abuse issues?) and didn’t do anything with that, or with the truck falling off the cliff so I can’t say I’m really that surprised. 🤷🏻‍♀️  

You know my thoughts on 6x03 being pointless how it was done, but having both that episode AND Tomorrow in the same half-season when we’re already getting 1 less episode than normal before season break is just messy and asking for disaster and honestly ruined a lot of the flow from 6x02 into 6x04 but given that they also brought the sperm donor thing up and then had zilch about it for a month is bad pacing too so the “bottle” episodes aren’t the whole issue, but 6x03 and how that whole storyline was handled is certainly a part of the issue.

It’s also frustrating seeing these moments that could be SUCH great fodder for drama and involving the firefam directly instead of being separate storylines with guest characters, instead being played off for laughs, and quick one-off scenes. I am never going to be over the potential of things like Eddie working at dispatch when Buck and his team are in danger and him not being able to help being another thing that leads to his breakdown, or Chim surviving Jonah and then getting abducted at work, when his partner Hen isn’t there to have his back, and Buck placing himself in danger to save him while Bobby and Eddie are helpless to do anything, stuck at the scene of the original accident. These are SUCH perfect set-ups for some great character moments and conversations within the core group that are just being passed by, and for what?! For cheap cheating drama, and masturbation jokes, and a break-up AND make-up that happen mostly off screen, and a breakdown we barely saw? If I wanted to watch pointless drama for the sake of pointless drama I’d watch Grey’s Anatomy or something. 

There is something off about the show and even with everyone back there is something integral missing. This show was always fun and funny but also heartfelt and while it was dramatic, there was a realness to the drama, not just for the main character, but also in the way the emergencies were handled. Sometimes fun and silly, sometimes with jokes being cracked, but it never felt like the jokes or fun was at the expense of the characters involved. And that feeling seems to be missing, the way any YA novel-turned-movie by cash-grabbing studio execs who just wanted to cash in on merch sales feel so hollow and soulless compared to the books. Because the people running things do not love and care about the thing they are making and above all they do not respect it, or the audience for it. That’s the feeling I get when I see Buck getting ambushed at work, and his family finding out about this thing that *should* result in some deep, loving conversations and concern for one of their own being played for laughs at Buck’s expense, or an emergency with people in distress during the incident and during their rescue, but their call to 911 is some "memeable”, quippy pun. The crew and the cast still clearly love and respect the work they are doing, but looking at the writing, it’s just NOT the same and really does feel like KR’s idea of “lighter” is “making everything into a joke” instead of realizing that when you create tension there has to be a release, when someone suffers, there needs to be comfort, when characters fight, they need to make up. 

I’m with you, my friend. I’m just so, so tired. And god forbid I say that because then I’m suddenly “hate watching” and “don’t understand the show” and should quit watching. Did I laugh during this episode? YES! Did Eddie throwing that bracelet at Chim add 3 years to my life? YES! Did Hen and Chim stopping to yell and ask why that damn bracelet was still around make my heart swell with joy? YES! Did happy, relaxed, Beach!Eddie re-write my brain forever? YES! But at the same time, are a few surface level fun scenes enough to sustain the show? To make it memorable? What’s that quote? Art isn’t supposed to be pretty, it’s supposed to make you feel something”, and this show used to have such depth and heart that there are STILL scenes and episodes I’ve seen multiple times that just thinking about give me literal chills or makes me tear up a little. But it hasn’t been that way, consistently, in a LONG time and the audience is getting tired.

[seattlesea]

Why is Piper McLean Annoying?

So, I see a lot of people saying that Piper McLean is annoying for a variety of reasons like ‘She’s too obsessed with Jason’, ‘She complains too much’, ‘She’s too jealous’, etc. (and I agree), but I also realize that barely anyone really explains why, which I think is a bit unfair to the Piper fans, cause I’m sure they want to see our reasonings. So, I thought it was only fair to explain why Piper McLean is annoying. 

First off, her obsession with Jason. I get that she likes the guy, but thinking about him every single paragraph gets really tiring after a while. It dragged the books and made them seem less of a hobby and more like a chore, like we had to get through the boring, tedious romance parts to get to the good stuff (which ended up disappointing). Of course Piper likes Jason, but her priority issues are what made her obsession with him so annoying. Like, doesn’t she have much more important things to do than sulk in her room whining about a boy? Like, I don’t know, train (which she only did in The House of Hades after Hazel told her to), plan for the final fight with the giants and Gaea, talk to her past friends and family in case she didn’t make it out alive, etc.? While all the other demigods were fighting for their lives, training their butts off, and working hard to make sure everything went smooth, Piper was sulking and whining about Jason in bed then complained that she was useless 💀 And I see a lot of arguments about why Piper’s obsession with Jason was fine, but let me make a counter-argument for each one- ‘She’s a daughter of Aphrodite’- You mean the daughter of Aphrodite who constantly claimed she hates Aphrodite and her children, is supposed to be the chill, down-to-earth one, and tries extremely hard to not be a typical daughter of Aphrodite? That one? I think the readers tend to forget that Aphrodite is the goddess of all love, not just romance.  ‘She’s a high school girl’- A high school girl who was given the responsibility of helping save the world, and yet her boyfriend is the number one thing on her mind? I can guarantee you high school girls do not only think about their boyfriends. That’s actually quite a rude stereotype that Riordan fell right into. ‘She wants normalcy’- And of course she’s going to get that with the guy who can shoot lightning from his hands and fly. If she really wanted normalcy, she would’ve gotten together with a mortal guy, not another demigod whom she’s questing with. ‘The people who claim she’s annoying for her crush on Jason are the same people who’ve had crushes on a million fictional characters’- But do those people let those crushes define their whole life, get in the way of their morals, and are the only thing they ever think or talk about? Liking multiple people and being creepily obsessed with another are very different things. 

Second, her jealousy over Reyna. I get that liking a guy and finding out another girl who’s known him for much longer also likes him is pretty jealousy-evoking...for a regular high school girl. But Piper isn’t a regular high school girl, she’s a demigod who’s supposed to concentrate on saving the whole world. Even in The Lost Hero, her jealousy and obsession was annoying (and creepy and honestly stalker-ish, like- wanting a guy all to yourself despite knowing your relationship with him was fake and completely dismissing the chances of any girl he might’ve known without ever getting to know him is pretty creepy) because even though she had just gotten introduced to the demigod world and had to adapt to it- she had just gotten introduced to the demigod world and had to adapt to it. How many people who just learned that gods, monsters, and myths were real and that they have to save their dad from a blood-thirsty giant and free a goddess from captivity or the world would end is going to think exclusively about a guy? That’s what makes it annoying. And even after The Mark of Athena when Jason and Piper were dating and Jason promised he wouldn’t leave her, Piper was still constantly worried about Reyna. Like, girl, don’t you have more important things to worry about? Like World War III between the Greeks and Romans? Or the literal end of the world? Or like, Armageddon? This also impacted the overall writing. During The Blood of Olympus, Frank and Piper were at a cave and Frank went in to get an ingredient for the Physician’s Cure, and the point of view was Piper’s, who sat outside waiting for him daydreaming about Jason and her friends. Frank was talking to his legendary shape-shifting ancestors and we got to read about a little girl complaining and sulking. That’s what makes Piper so annoying. 

Third, her complaining. Piper fans often argue that everyone is allowed to complain about their trauma and you shouldn’t compare it to others...but there is none for Piper. She’s literally complaining for nothing. ‘Oh, but her dad was neglectful and didn’t care about her!!!’ ????are we reading the same book??? Piper has had multiple flashbacks of her and her dad hanging out like going surfing, watching Tristan’s movies, reading Greek myths, discussing Cherokee stories, etc., and it’s obvious Tristan loves Piper very much. Everything he does is for her. It’s not even his choice to be busy, it’s his agent’s, and even though he’s super busy, he always makes time for Piper even though Piper constantly makes his life harder by getting herself in trouble despite knowing his job and life is already stressful enough. Plus the fact that no matter how much bad Piper did, Tristan never punished or got mad at her for it. The fact that she’s complaining about her private chef making her a gold-wrapped sandwich while a lot of the other characters spent their childhood having to wonder where their next meal was going to come from and complained about having things they didn’t have 5% of was what was annoying. There’s a difference between ‘comparing traumas’ and being flat-out insensitive (as Piper was). If I saw some spoiled rich kid complaining about their peanut butter-jelly sandwich being wrapped in fake gold by their personal chef right in front of a starving homeless kid, I probably would’ve thrown a rock at them. 

The last and most annoying part- the genre. The number one reason people think that Piper is annoying is that we didn’t read this story for romance. We didn’t pick up a Rick Riordan book to read about romance and jealousy, we did so to read about slaying monsters and saving the world. The entire Heroes of Olympus series was 80% dragged romance and 10% super-rushed, unrealistic, and horribly-written fights that mostly consisted of dialogue that never took longer than five pages but should’ve taken up a whole chapter or more. I- and multiple other readers- couldn’t care less about who gets in the way of whom and who gets together with whom and who likes whom, I care more about the battles and superpowers. Readers pick up action/fantasy/adventures stories to read about action, fantasy, and adventure, not romance. Piper ripped the readers from the fantasy world just to pine over her boyfriend, and the fact that that was what made up the majority of the books (along with other dumb, rushed romances) and Riordan spent like two pages- again, most of which consisting of dialogue- on the final battle against the second most powerful deity in all of Greek/Roman mythology (only surpassed by Chaos himself) after spending a whole book on just the Titan lord is what makes Piper so annoying. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the romance wasn’t even a subplot. It was a minor add-on, but all throughout HoO the romance was the main point, and Piper was the center of that. Plus she’s the center of a lot of racism and misogyny in the series. That’s what makes her annoying, my friends.

And yeah thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: Wonder Woman 1984

Ah yes, Wonder woman, the first time Wonder woman got her own (live action) movie, and also the first DCEU movie that was made competently.

After the positive response it looked like the course was clear for a sequel. A sequel was made and... it looks like the (by the time I`m writing this) latest DC movie embraced the tradition, that started with the first DCEU movies, of being divisive.

The tone was very different from the first WW movie, but taking that aside... there were still more problems.

And I`m not just talking about the controversy of Steve Trevor possesing the body of another man and taking it out for a spin without the man`s consent.

From what I`ve heard Patty Jenkins wanted to capture the spirit of Richard Donner`s Superman but it seems she instead recreated the spirit of the Richard Lester movies.

With a tiny pinch of rapiness.

I have a confession to make: I haven`t actually seen this movie, because I don`t have HBO Max, but I`ve heard about the plot from several movie reviewers on youtube. And from what I´ve heard, it sounds like this one is worthy of getting the old CC treatment from ol`Scorpy.

Before I rewrite WW 1984 I want to say something about the first WW.

In my editorial "DCEU in general" I wrote that there was a only a tiny thing that I wanted to change. I`d like to add one more thing: Sir Patrick should not have been Ares.

Here`s how I would have changed it.

When Sir Patrick shows up in the tower and Diana uses her lasso on him he reveals that he is in fact Hermes, the messenger of the gods. The real Ares is still alive, imprisoned in a dungeon somewhere. The gods of olympus are still alive, they have just distanced themselves from the mortals. Diana is meant to be an agent that takes care of all the mess that the gods themselves have caused. Since Ludendorff is a disciple of Ares it technically means that it`s a job for Wonder Woman, it was Hermes job to get her out on the field and into the war. Since Ludendorff is dead now it means that Diana has finished her mission. What she does now is up to her. Diana is of course disillusioned. Steve gets on the plane, flies away in it and blows it up. Diana is distrought, sees Dr Maru and wants to kill her. She goes after her, is attacked by soldiers but easily throws them to the side. Diana is about to kill a helpless Dr Maru but... she can`t. She angrily tells Maru to get lost and leaves the base.

A few days later Diana (still disillusioned) sits at a cafè. She sees a boy being reunited with his father, it opens her eyes a little to the goodness of humans and what she helped to protect. A little girl gives her a flower. Diana smiles a little. She leaves the cafè and starts walking. She has a long journey ahead of her.

And that`s how I would do it.

It would work better with Steve`s little speech about how everone`s to blame, but it would also work better with what I have planned for the WW sequels.

So, with the first Wonder Woman out of the way... if I had a wish granting dreamstone that would let me travel back in time and make some adjustments to this movie, what would I have done?

1: instead of having it take place in the past I`d have it take place in the present. Chronologically after the first Justice League movie (OR the Batgirl and Supergirl movie.)

2: Wonder Woman would be able to fly and she can`t make things invisible.

3: Like I said in my CC of Justice League: Wonder Woman wouldn`t have a secret identity in my version. That`s right, Diana could be open about her superheroing and still keep her day job. (Hey, it works for Jennifer Walters.)

What would I call my version?

Either Wonder Woman 2 or Wonder Woman: Something something far from homecoming.

Plot

WW stops a bunch of terrorist from terrorizing. She leaves them for the police to take care of and is unaware of that she is being watched from afar by a red haired woman.

She has dinner with Barbara, an old work buddy from the museum. Barbara looks up to and is a little jealous of Diana, she would also like to be part of something big, make a real change in the world. During the conversation she mentions that her parents were not very encouraging. Besides that she asks Diana if she`s gonna show up at the museum`s new exhibition that is tomorrow. Diana thinks she`ll just steal to much attention from the historical, greek artefacts (her being a superhero with no secret identity and all) but decides that she`ll show up because the publicity will be good for the museum.

End of the day: Diana walks home, signs some autographs and meets the red haired woman that we saw earlier and recognizes her from her childhood! It`s Circe! Circe hasn`t aged a day since Diana last saw her.

She and Diana used to have fun together, Diana once showed her the different sights of the island, like the Temple of Athena, the Temple of the seven siblings and all the cool beaches. Circe used to say something about poetic about the setting of the sun. After a while Circe was banned from Themiscyra  by Diana`s mother, Queen Hippolyta. She was afraid that Circe was having a bad influence on Diana. Circe admits that she had an irresponsible side back then, but she has changed now. Now she`s trying to do something good and productive with her immortal life. They say goodbye and hope to meet again and talk some more.

Meanwhile: Barbara is using the subway. There`s a guy who is obnoxious, unpleasant and bothers the other passengers. Barbara gets so annoyed with him that she fantazises about beating him up, she is the kind of person that always bottles up all her anger.

Somwhere else: Diana is having a date with... Steve Trevor? They`re at an amusement park having a good time until Steve tells her that he has to catch a plane. Diana tries to warn him that the if he gets on that plane he`ll die but can`t, her voice is gone and her feet are stuck in the ground. Steve gets on the plane, it flies away and explodes. Diana wakes up. It was a just a nightmare.

Next day: Diana stops a robbery of an armed van. The van almost runs over... Steve Trevor? Diana stops the van and the robbers and checks if Steve is OK. He is fine, but he is also not steve Trevor. Diana had an hallucination.

Later that night: The inauguration of new exhibition at the museum. There are many people there, including Diana and Barbara. They talk and mingle. (This could be a good place for a Lynda Carter cameo.) Barbara has a pleasant conversation with a woman who turns out to be Circe, Diana doesn`t ntoice because she`s busy talking to other people. Some of the people are actually there to see the ancient, greek artefacts. Diana sees Steve Trevor again. She follows him, taps him on the shoulder, he turns around aand... it`s just Jimmy Olsen.

Diana is starting to doubt her sanity. What if her hallucinations get worse? She could risk the lives of innocent people. She goes to a psychiatrist who suggests that she take a vacation. When Diana leaves the psychiatrist turns out to be Circe in disguise. Diana puts on her WW outfit, packs her bags and flies to Themiscyra where she is welcomed by her  Amazon sisters and is reunited with her mother.

Next day: Subway. Once again Barbara is annoyed by an obnoxious man on the train and once again she bottles up her anger. Circe sits behind her, talks to her, says that she understands how she feels. They hear from a guy next to them who watches the news on his smartphones that Diana was seenflying over the atlantic with packed bags. A source has confirmed that Diana has been going through a lot of stress and is taking a vacation. Circe says that she doesn`t blame her, must be a tough job. She also adds that it would be nice if there could be someone to do her job while she`s gone. Barbara is interested in such a job. Circe takes Barbara to her  fancy apartment, gives her a potion to drink that turns her into Cheetah.

Themiscyra: Diana (wearing a typical Themiscyrian outfit) spends most of her day farming. At the end of the day she still has a hallucination involving Steve Trevor.

She worries if she will ever get well.

U.S.A: Cheetah stops a mugger. She enjoys beating him up a little too much, she doesn`t kill him though, he lives but is badly injured. Circe who saw her in action shows up and offers a few comments and a little constructive criticism but is otherwise pleased with how well it went.

Cheetah, still high from the adrenaline, leaps off into the night to find more robbers to beat up.

Themiscyra: Diana spends most of her day making pottery. After a long day she sits down and relaxes. A plane crashes nearby, it is on fire, she rescues the pilot who turns out to be a badly burnt and dying Steve Trevor. He dies in her arms. She wakes up. It was a nightmare.

A little later she talks to her mother about her problem. Hippolyta suggest that she goes to the temple of the seven siblings.

We get a flashback where Hippolyta explains to Diana as a child abut the temple. In the temple there`s a carving on the wall depicting what appears to be a jewel. The Stone of Morpheus. Morpheus is one of the seven siblings. It is said that if you touch that carving you will, the next time you fall asleep, have a dream that guides you and helps you with any problem you might have.

Back to the present: Diana is sceptical to that whole "touch the image of the stone and it will help you in your dream" thing because she believes it to be just superstition. Buuut this time she`s willing to try anything, so she gives it a try.

U.S.A: Cheetah beats up some small crooks. Circe gives her a couple of bracelets that will increase her strength because she believes that things are about to get serious. (Cheetah is strong but not take-on-Wonder-Woman strong).

Themiscyra: Night: Diana wakes up and sees a  little girl standing in the door. The girl looks like a child version of herself. The girl tells her to follow, Diana (in her WW outfit) follows her outside the city to a cave. Diana goes into the cave. She goes deeper and deeper, further and further. She meets Steve Trevor who tells her to go back, it isn`t safe. She ignores his advice and continues. She comes to a giant underground hall. There are statues in the hall, statues of her. In the center of it all is a green jewel stuck in a giant web of stone. Diana believes that the stone is the cause of her troubles and goes up to it to destroy it. Steve Trevor once again shows up to stop her. Diana tries to ignore him like last timebut this it`s not that easy, because now he fights back. Diana is forced to reluctantly fight Steve Trevor who is just as strong as she, and he can also teleport. Steve says something about the setting of the sun. That sounds familiar to Diana, where has she heard that before? Wait a minute! Of course! How could she miss it? This is is all Circe`s work. When she realizes that Circe is behind this Steve Trevor changes and becomes Circe. Diana have no qualms about fighting Circe. She defeats her, goes to destroy the stone, Circe tries to stop her with her magic and succeeds, but only temporarily. Diana gets near the stone and smashes it. Circe is gone. Diana leaves the cave and wakes up in her bed.

Sunrise: Diana changes to her WW outfit, says good bye to her fellow amazons and her mother and leaves Themiscyra.

U.S.A: Diana lands outside the museum and is soon joined by Cheetah. Cheetah, glad that Diana is back, suggests they team up and become a crime fighting duo. Diana wonders what happened to her, Cheetah  explains that some one named Circe is responsible for her transformation. Diana needs to find Circe and tells Cheetah that Circe is evil. Cheetah doesn`t like hearing that, things escalate and they fight.

Diana manages to break Cheetah`s bracelets and defeat her. She uses the lasso of truth to find out Circe`s whereabouts. Cheetah doesn`t know where she is now but remembers where her apartment is.

Diana goes to Circe`s apartment, this time it`s empty and it doesn`t look fancy at all, it looks like no one has lived there for years. A candle lights up by itself. Above the candle we can see and hear a pre-recorded message from Circe. She tells Diana that she can`t be there right now, she has more important things to take care of. She also tells Diana not to worry, the house that she`s currently in is empty, no innocents will be harmed.

The building explodes.

Diana survives with only a few bruises (she`s Wonder Woman after all).

Somewhere in a Las Vegas hotel: Circe is sipping on some champagne when she sees that a ring on one of her fingers is glowing. She knows that this means that Diana has gotten her message and the building has exploded. She picks up and looks at some ancient-looking artefact (one of the ancient greek artefacts that we saw earlier at the museum to be exact).

Her cellphone rings, she picks it up and tells the person/persons on the other end that she has the artefact. We get a flashback that shows that she stole it from the museum as soon as Diana left for Themiscyra. (And for a skilled sorceress like her it was super easy, barely an inconvenience.)

Circe: Don`t worry boys. I`m gonna get your daddy out of prison.

Back on Themiscyra: Diana talks about how it went and laments that two of her old friends turned into enemies. Hippolyta comforts her and says some encouraging words.

Later that night: Diana is wearing a fancy dress at a very fancy restaurant with... Steve Trevor?

She`s having a dream again. The reason she sees him this time is because deep down she wanted to say good bye to him in a more positive way, she doesn`t want her fight with him in the cave to be her last memory of him.

Steve: Let`s end this on a high note.

The two of them dance to classy, romantic music. (Maybe a cover of "The way you look tonight".)

She`s having a great time. End on a freeze frame. Fade to black.

End credits roll.

Not great but hopefully not bad. A little short in the second act.

And yes: the temple of the seven siblings thing and the stone of Morpheus is my sneaky way of sneaking the Sandman characters into my DCEU.

Cheetah would later come come back in Justice League 2. She`s one of the villains that Lex Luthor has recruited for his Atlas shrugged-inspired plan to take over the world. (The other villains are: Metallo, Doc Hammond, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke and King Shark.)

Cheetah`s next appearance should be in Justice League 3. In this movie she switches to the good guys`s side and after the giant climax she and Diana become a romantic couple, that way we get some important LGBTQIA+ representation.

And in Wonder Woman 3 Diana, Cheetah and Supergirl teams up to fight Ares (the real one this time), who has been freed from his prison by Circe, Phobos and Deimos.

And that`s how I would do it.

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Deviation nr: 143 Written Stuff nr: 36 Hope you like my written stuff, because it`s pretty much the only thing I`m gonna be able to upload for the forseeable future. Technically I CAN upload more than just written stuff, as long as it is something that can put together digitally and doesn`t need to be scanned or anything like that.I may upload visual art as long as it is an edited photo. (Kinda like Clown queen of crime or If I were pop art). Related editorials Constructive criticism: DCEU in general: www.deviantart.com/81scorp/art… As usual: english is not my first language, so if you find my writing a little wonky, now you know why. Also: My sister has a patreon if you`re interested. www.patreon.com/mariabohm 

Originally uploaded on Deviantart January 25, 2021

[thedestinysunknown]

God of War: Ghost of Sparta:

Genre: Slasher;

Console: Playstation Portable;

Year: 2010;

Story: "A series of flashbacks reveals that an oracle had foretold that the demise of Olympus would come not by the revenge of the Titans, who had been imprisoned after the Great War, but by a marked warrior. The Olympians Zeus and Ares believed this warrior to be Deimos, the brother of Kratos, due to his strange birthmarks. Ares interrupted the childhood training of Kratos and Deimos, with Athena on hand, and kidnapped Deimos. Kratos attempted to stop Ares, but was swept aside and subsequently scarred across his right eye by the Olympian. Athena stopped Ares from killing Kratos, knowing his eventual destiny. Taken to Death's Domain, Deimos was imprisoned and tortured by Thanatos. In honor of his sibling, Kratos marked himself with a red tattoo, identical to his brother's birthmark." So, Kratos is going to save his brother.

Gameplay: this is the second GoW game that I'm reviewing, so you know what to expect. You play as Kratos the whole game (when you finish the game, you're going to be able to play as Deimos). You can jump, use your weapons and power ups. For the most part, is pretty much the same as the previous game, however, the power ups are different and very fun. Like the previous game, you can finish this one really quickly. However, there's a lot more content to unlock, which makes the game a bit longer and more frustrating. You still have some challenges to do, but you also have new modes. Honestly, the only interesting part about this game is the main mode, so don't get that hyped for the after game.

Graphics: it looks pretty much like the previous game, which is nice. Both games are very pretty. However, I feel like the previous one is a lot more memorable.

Soundtrack: this game has a nice soundtrack, as you can expect.

Final Thoughts: completing this game was pretty bittersweet. Honestly, I wanted to get everything, but at the same time, I felt it was pointless. Most of the things you unlock are either gallery, or pointless outfits. However, is a fun game. You can finish it really quickly in a few hours. If you like the first game, then you will enjoy this 1 as well. I will give it a 9 out of 10.

PS: I do not own the footage of these gifs. The content of these gifs are from a Youtube video. Click HERE, if you want to check out the source.

[proyectnerv]

Jungian mother archetypes in Saint Seiya

The Jungian archetype is one of the most misinterpreted concepts in popular culture. People usually associate it with tarot, numerology and astrology, which is in fact correct but only to some extent. In this video I will try to explain this concept through the particular use of the mother archetype in Saint Seiya.

Saint Seiya may very well be one of the shallowest classic examples of anime, but don't get me wrong, it's my favorite one as well. The show is about saints who fight holy wars against mythological gods in the XX century. Characters don't much change and neither does the narrative structure. However, I've come to realize almost every saint has mother issues according to Jung's theory, which makes it perfect for explaining the matter at hand. The idea of "mother" is one of the examples of archetype Jung explains in his book Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious published in 1969.

Based in Plato, Carl Gustav Jung said archetypes are foundational elements preconfigured by the existence of a collective unconscious. They are ideas which manifest themselves through hollow formulas which repeat themselves throughout culture regardless of their actual content. To these signified, the associated signifier may, or may not be important at all, depending on the material circumstances where humankind is conceiving its primordial images; the effective occurrence of psychical predispositions in a symbolic thought matrix. This is a simple way of putting it, and it's still complicated, but it might be easier if I put like this: in Saint Seiya Athena is the mother archetype, while Saori Kido is just herself.

 Mother archetype

The mother archetype in Saint Seiya is the goddess Athena, because it’s the magical female authority and symbol of institutionalism for her saints. This is exactly how Jung describes the idea of the mother as spiritual deity. But have in mind Saori is not the archetype but it's mere content. This is clear when the fake Pope (Gemini Saga) seized control of the Sanctuary. He manipulated the saints claiming he spoke on behalf of Athena, mother archetype to her saints, while her real reincarnation was being hidden by the Graude Foundation. However, Saori was more of a spoiled child. For example, after she got wounded by the golden arrow, there's a flashback from her childhood where she orders Seiya to carry her, much to his disgust. When he refuses, she hits him with a jockey stick and calls her slave. She hits him again, but Seiya grabs her stick and another kid offers himself as her slave. She is nothing like the motherly idea of the mother archetype and the saints still revered her without knowing she was the actual goddess. When her true identity is revealed the bronze saints' former distrust becomes utmost respect, even her own personality changes.

 Mother and son relationship

The mother archetype is defined through the mother-son relationship. According to Jung, the son may develop self castration behaviors when the female figures become tied to the mother archetype. Pegasus Seiya, whose relation with Athena is motherly, shows to have little interest in romantic relationships, even when both Ophiuchus Shaina and Miho love him platonically. Moreover, The Lost Canvass and Omega make clear that Athena and the Pegasus Cloth saint have a Mary-Jesus relationship, which perpetuates itself (like Princess Zelda and Link).

The Holy Family is cited by Jung as a basis for the mother archetype. The connection between both figures is primarily related to Greek mythology, where Pegasus was given to Perseus by the goddess.

Despite what fan art usually shows, Saori and Seiya will never become a couple because of the Oedipus complex residing in their relationship.

 Mother complex in men

Archetypes, especially the mother and father, usually imply the possibility of a struggle, Jung explains the mother archetype struggle of the son with the myth of the goddess Cybele and her son Attis. The two were lovers, until one day Attis had sex with a nymph. The goddess punished him, for which he castrated himself succumbing to madness. Eventually Attis died, however he revived every now and then to be with his mother despite his treason. The point here is the relationship between mother archetype, betrayal, punishment, destruction and revival. According to Jung, the son who defies mother archetype through may struggle with madness and self castration. Just like Ikki, whose history of defying the Graude Foundation (in representation of Athena's will) coincides with his punishment in Death Queen Island, the madness of revenge and his constant nihilistic self castration. Interesting enough is that Phoenix Ikki reunites with Athena resurrecting and with Esmeralda in death, whose demise ultimately lead to his castration and madness.

 Mother complex in women

The last example relates to the daughter’s relationship with the mother archetype, according to Jung, in some cases women may suppress their femininity because of a strong mother figure. This seems to be the case of Athena's female saints who take a vow to hide their femininity wearing masks. In her last battle with Seiya, Ophiuchus Shaina tells him that female saints must either kill or love those men who get to see their faces.

I hope these friendly examples help you to understand what archetypes really are; an idea. Not a person, a natal chart or a tarot card, but the shared idea they may evoke.

 Pablo Noguera Cordaro